Alternate
by Aileen Autarkeia
Summary: They never expected in a million years that a plane ride to Europe would turn into something so big. When the Tesseract messes up in a big way, two girl's lives will never be the same. Steve/OC, Loki/OC, Self Insert and slightly Mary-Sueish in my mind .
1. Chapter 1

Hello All!

I went to Europe and was inspired to write this. Don't worry, the next story in Guarding His Life is on the way. I have too many stories up, so I'm taking one or two down. Vote on the poll that SHOULD be up to keep your favorite!

Enjoy!

Note: Names have been changed to protect identities. Avengers are not mine. Any similarity to real-life events is unintentional. This is a total self insert. Don't like, don't read.

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"I can't believe all the stupid security checks we have to go through just to fly on a stupid plane," Jessica groaned, hopping on one foot to tug a shoe on.

"Yeah, yeah, we have enough time to make our flight. Now quit complaining and put your shoes back on."

Riley dragged Jessica down the terminal as the latter fought to pull on her tennis shoe. Finally Riley stopped and said, "We're here."

"And I'm missing a shoe!"

"Jess!" Riley said in frustration.

"Hey, who dragged me down the terminal? You did. Now go find it." Jessica pointed down the terminal.

"Don't need to. Mister!"

Riley sprinted down the tile, waving at the man carrying her friend's shoe. "That's my sister's! She lost it. Thanks!"

She barely glanced at his face, but noted that he had blonde hair neatly combed with pale blue eyes that were startling. She grabbed the shoe and ran back to Jessica who was watching her, amusement written all over her face.

"Yeah, thanks," she said, snatching the shoe from Riley and bothering to untie it first.

"Starbucks?"

"Gimme a sec! Geez, Miss Impatient over here?"

"Oh my gosh. Seriously? I'm thirsty."

Jessica stood up, matching Riley in height, weight, and build. "Let's go then."

The two girls grabbed their backpacks and took off down the way. "There-"

They turned into the coffee shop and waited impatiently for the woman in front of them to finish.

"Mocha frappe for me, please."

"Make that two- tall, please."

They grabbed the drinks and went to sit and people watch for the hour they had before their flight.

"What are you most looking forward to in Europe?" Riley asked.

"Everything! We have to go to at least one art gallery. I insist!" Jessica said. She took a sip and frowned. "Not enough sugar. Give me a minute."

"Ok," Riley said easily. She took a sip and smiled.

Suddenly her brow furrowed as she zeroed in on a man and woman who had just stepped off one of the planes. The woman had short curly dark red hair, while the man was wearing dark sunglasses and had short spiky brown hair. They would have been just two strangers- if not for the fact that the best friends had had a movie marathon of Marvel movies, and they had watched the Avengers.

"I'm back! ... Hey, are you ok?" Jessica waved a hand in front of Riley's face.

"Jessica."

"Yeah?"

"Look over there." Riley gestured to the main area the two were in.

"Oh my-"

"Hawkeye and Black Widow," the two chorused in hushed voices.

"Act natural!" Jessica hissed as the two scanned the airport. The girls turned to each other and began talking gamer terms, keeping a covert eye on the two.

"Riley. While looking natural, turn around and look at the man with the newspaper, glasses, and hat."

Riley drained her cup and said so the surrounding tables could hear, "Need me to take that?"

"Nah. I got this." Jessica sat back and gave Riley a look that said clearly, 'Go!'

She rose and walked to the trash cans. As she dumped her cup, she 'accidentally' dropped her cup on the ground.

She glanced over at the man Jessica had mentioned and almost froze.

Quickly she dumped her cup and trotted back to the table. She sat, yanked her phone out, and texted Jessica.

'What is Bruce Banner doing in an airport?'

Jessica's phone vibrated and she picked it up. Her thumbs flew and only a few seconds later she was messaging Riley on Facebook.

'I so pray he doesn't get on our flight'

'Ditto. What was the quote from the movie?'

'they want me to be in a pressurized tin can? ... Oh no, this is worse. Much worse.'

'EXACTLY.'

'Kay, three of six. Thor on Asgard or Midgard?'

'scanning'

'Kay'

'CRAP. MOVE IT THEY SAW ME WATCHING THEM'

'Shoot, moving'

The girls rose as one and Jess tossed her cup out as they left the joint.

They were very quick in moving down the terminal and claiming two seats with no others around. They spoke in hushed whispers, phones away.

"What should we do?"

"Catch our flight and pray to all that is holy he doesn't get on our flight."

"Scanning again..." Riley paused as realization hit her.

Blue eyes... neat hair, blonde... tall...

"Oh my gosh. Rogers had your shoe."

"What?"

"When I went to grab your shoe, it was a really tall guy with blue eyes and blonde hair. Ring any bells?"

"Oh my gosh."

"We just need two more and the set is complete."

The two girls looked at each other once more.

"This is... slightly more exciting than my last trip to Europe," Riley murmured.

"Uh, yeah."

Suddenly Riley dug through her purse and yanked out her phone and lipgloss. She held her phone up in camera mode, scanning the terminal easily as she deftly applied her gloss without looking.

"And before you go all fangirl on me, Loki is probably still on Asgard. I still don't get why you go for the bad guys."

"Just like you go for the good guys."

"Whaaaaatever." Riley shoved her phone back into her purse.

Jessica straightened suddenly. "And we have number five. Repeat, number five has just showed up. This is gonna be one big party soon."

"Oh snap. Stark?"

"Big as life."

"Which gate?"

"Wandering... wandering... ours."

There was unmistakeable nervousness in her voice. "If he gets on..."

"A nine hour flight? We're all screwed."

"Now boarding First Class and Priority Access," the loudspeaker echoed.

"That's us. Let's move it."

They got in line, passports and tickets in hand. Right behind them Stark fell into line, talking to someone on a wireless cellphone.

"Luggage," Jessica murmured, imperceptible to anyone else besides Riley.

She casually glanced back and nodded. The Iron Man suit was clearly in carry-on form, and it solidified any doubts she had as to the identity of the man behind her.

They made their way to their seats and sat swiftly, glancing around.

"Not good. Stark two seats behind, Romanoff and Barton two left in our row. Banner settling in and... oh geez... Rogers sitting two seats forward and three over."

"We're screwed," the two whispered in unison.

The plane got ready to take off. The two girls chewed on some gum until they were in the air, cruising steadily.

"Feature films?"

"Real Steel- have they not quit playing that? And I think the other one is rated R."

"Cruddy movies for a long flight. Grab the computers."

Out came the laptops and were set up within a few moments. "MC?" Jessica asked, and Riley shot her a look like she was insane.

The two girls logged in- minus Internet, unfortunately- and played the game for a good three hours. Dinner showed up and left, and finally Riley closed the computer with a yawn.

"Sleep. We get nice beds in First," Riley said with a smile.

Jessica stowed her computer and slid her seat down flat. Riley did the same and they faced each other, whispering to each other as the lights dimmed and one by one the other Business and First Classers fell asleep.

"Are they asleep?"

"Banner's tense as a wound spring. Otherwise yes."

"I hope we're ok for the night..."

"We should be. Night." Riley faced away from her sister and slid the window shut.


	2. Chapter 2

I am overwhelmed at the response from everyone. I thought "It's terrible, no one will like it, et cetera, et cetera" and guess what? YOU LIKE IT!

Enjoy this next chapter and *shameless plug here* check out the amazing story by Jazzy Pseudonym called "Revengers"! It's a NextGen fic the likes of which have never been seen!

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They awoke to a stewardess shaking them awake. "Do you want breakfast?" she asked cheerfully.

Riley slid her seat upright and opened her tray table. She accepted the food gratefully as Jessica struggled to wake up.

"Rise and shine, lady, we got food," she said with a laugh, hitting the switch to push Jessica's seat upright again.

Jessica yawned and took the tray from the stewardess. The two girls nibbled on the airplane food, before pulling out the computers again and playing for a while longer before the captain came over the PA and said they would be landing shortly in Paris, their final destination.

The girls grinned at each other and nodded slightly. They moved identically, hitting keys to turn the computers off. They slapped the computers closed at the same time and leaned over to pick up the laptop bags. "Just like twins," Riley muttered to Jessica.

The plane landed and they went through customs and immigration without further incident. They stood around, bored, at baggage claim for a while until Jessica whipped out her phone and began texting furiously.

Riley's phone vibrated and she pulled it out. Jessica had texted her.

'no joke, thor just showed up.'

'some big crap is about to go down.'

"Luggage!" Riley yelped, throwing her phone into her bag and sprinting to her bag on the belt. Jessica had her own problems as she fought to pull her bag off the conveyor.

"Need some help?"

Riley's heart almost stopped.

"Yeah, if you wouldn't mind." She tugged futilely at her bag one last time before Steve Rogers pulled her luggage off the conveyor with hardly an effort.

He set it upright and Riley smiled brightly up at him. "Thank you Mr..."

"Rogers. And you are?"

"Riley. I'm on a visit to Europe with my best friend and practically sister, Jessica. Oh-!"

Riley sprinted over to Jessica, who glanced at her, annoyed. "While you get the nice guy to drag your luggage off, you forget about your best friend. Niiiiice, Riley."

"Well sorry. Common courtesy, y'know?" Together the girls pulled the suitcase off.

Riley trotted over to her suitcase and smiled gratefully at the superhero. "Thanks so much. Maybe we'll see ya in Paris somewhere then?"

"Maybe."

"Bye!" And with a cheerful farewell Riley scooted over to Jessica, who was hailing a taxi.

They made it to the hotel and into their room. With a flop, they landed on the bed and grabbed for computers.

They made arrangements to wander and left the hotel to find a place to eat. As they walked around, Riley directed her attention to a side street and said, "There's a steak restaurant this way. Follow me."

After wandering for a few minutes, Riley was clearly lost. She tugged out the map and examined it carefully. "You're lost, aren't you?" Jessica demanded.

"Yeah," Riley said grudgingly and turned around, only to halt. "Jess."

Jessica whirled, staring at the two figures blocking the exit. One pulled a bow out, the other loaded a clip into a small handgun. "Other end?" she murmured, only to stop as a high pitched and close together beeping sound seemed to close off the other end.

"It's them, guys," a very familiar voice called. "They're the source."

"Look, I don't know what exactly you're wanting with us, but we are two girls on vacation in Europe. Not some robbers." Riley tried to keep her voice steady and failed.

"Yeah, right-"

Jessica caught Riley's eye and nodded.

In a flash the two girls were off. They sprinted towards the other end- AWAY from the two assassins- and suddenly took a sharp left, down a smaller street. Behind them they heard the well known voice of Tony Stark shout, "It's the Tesseract! They're surrounded with it's energy!"

"The Tesseract?"

The two girls traded looks.

At that moment they heard something behind them. Jessica put on a burst of speed and Riley leapt over a chain, but just as they were about to go, something happened.

Riley jumped and a burst of bluish-white light surrounded her for a moment. She thought she would be touching the ground in a moment, but as moments passed and her feet were still dangling, she looked down.

Jessica had the same problem, except she was about 50 feet ahead of where she had been two seconds ago. Riley was over 30 feet in the air and on the descent.

"John Carter much?" she muttered as she landed, leaving a small crater. She sprinted forward and leapt again, this time focusing on gaining altitude to land on a rooftop and maybe pull some Assassin's Creed roof running.

Unfortunately, as she started descending towards the roof, she was suddenly aware that metal arms were wrapped around her middle and she was zooming through the air.

"Will you please put me down? I don't give a crap if you drop me, but metal is really uncomfortably when it's wrapped around your middle," she complained to Iron Man, completely at ease as they landed.

"Sorry, no can do. Thor, have you got the other one yet?"

"No, Man of Iron. Though I do believe I am closing in on her location-"

Riley heard an "Oomph!" swiftly followed by "Get off of me, quit touching me, YOU'RE IN MY PERSONAL SPACE BUBBLE DUDE!"

She laughed and said, "I got the same issue, sweetie. Me no gusta iron band around my middle."

"Crap. Same?"

"No, I stole a comm off the ground and decided to play with it while wrapping metal around my midsection. OF COURSE I'M CAPTURED, you twerp!"

Stark laughed and said, "We're taking you someplace."

"Mind sharing or may I guess?"

"No sharing. Guess away!"

"Um. It couldn't possibly be..."

"An aircraft carrier..."

"That can fly..."

"Can turn invisible..."

"And is the main headquarters of SHIELD?"

"Or is it the freaking ginormous tower..."

"In the middle of Manhattan..."

"That's freaking huge..."

"With the top ten floors just of R&D..."

"And basically the Avenger's headquarters?"

Silence fell over the comm waves.

"Did we do ok on guessing?" Jessica asked innocently.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it took me forever to update. My grandparents arrived today to visit for a while, so I'm just kinda working when I can.

Enjoy! And I don't own the Avengers, otherwise I'd be rolling in piles of money. I was counting change for colored pencils today. Read between the lines- I'm not rich!

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They were correct with their first guess.

It was an uncomfortable ride- Iron Man hadn't gone anywhere close to the quinjet that would take them to the helicarrier. So Riley had suffered in silence, hanging limply like a ragdoll from his arms.

They landed on the deck and Iron Man let Riley collapse. She shot him a glare and rose to her feet unsteadily. She bounced experimentally on the balls of her feet.

Iron Man leveled one arm at her, blasters powering up as she glared. "Don't try to go anywhere," he said. "Just a straight drop to the ocean."

"Yeah, yeah, whatevs. Where's my sister?" she demanded, rocking back on her heels.

"Landing."

Sure enough, the quinjet landed and the back door opened. Riley was running for it before Iron Man could stop her. She slid to a stop in what she thought must have been an epic move, full in the doorway as it dropped.

"Hey! Riley! Nice of you to show up! Now can you get this off my stomach?" Jessica said cheerfully, gesturing to the large hammer sitting on her chest.

"Sorry sis, I haven't got the powerup yet. Gotta find a mushroom somewhere first." Riley shrugged as she ghosted past the assassins, who were keeping a close eye on her, to sit down next to Jessica as gracefully as a kidnapped girl could.

Thor grabbed his hammer as he passed and Jessica rose to her feet. The two girls simply looked at each other and a moment of understanding passed between them. *Hear them out, then run.*

They followed the Avengers down a hallway, joined suddenly by two figures, one in a plaid shirt, the other in a purple one. Riley shot Rogers a glance, but paid him little mind, even though she could feel Jessica shooting her leers.

They entered a large conference room and the two girls took seats right next to each other. The other Avengers sat around the table as well. Riley silently noted the seating arrangement.

Right next to Jess was Tony Stark, calmly seated and arms crossed over his chest, examining the two girls carefully. Bruce Banner was sitting down between him and Captain America, also known as Steve Rogers. Next to Riley was Hawkeye, or Clint Barton, next to him was Natasha Romanoff, and last was Thor.

The door opened and Director Fury walked in, flanked by Maria Hill. He sat down across from the girls and eyed them critically, sizing them up. Riley unconsciously drew herself up straighter and used one of her favorite expressions- eyes heavily lidded, nose slightly turned up, merest frown on her face, hands folded in front of her. Jessica had just flipped into major sarcastic mode and was clearly ready to hurl insults.

"You threw us into quite a bit of confusion, using the Tesseract as you did," Fury said.

"If I knew what this Tesseract was, maybe I could tell you exactly what I personally know of it," Riley said haughtily.

Fury scoffed. "You knew exactly what the Helicarrier was and what Avenger's Tower looks like and the most highly classified info on what exactly is up top. I would bet my good eye that you know what the Tesseract is."

"Well, it's your lucky day- you get to keep seeing," Jessica said sardonically. "She's stalling."

"Jessica Good. I would keep your mouth shut." Riley's voice was frosty.

"That's the problem. For all intents and purposes, you do not exist. We have no proof of your existence past a few days ago. No birth records, school papers, photographs. Nothing."

Jessica and Riley exchanged looks. "AU."

"It has to be."

"Of all the AUs to be stuck in..."

"Will someone kindly explain what an AU is?" Tony Stark bellowed.

"Shut up and maybe I'll be nice," Riley snapped.

"Basically AU stands for Alternate Universe. Basically some people believe that there are an infinite number of universes, depending on what choices you make," Jessica explained.

Riley glared at her and picked up the thread. "So what we're saying is possibly sometime during the night three nights ago, we left our own universe and entered yours... unintentionally of course. Because, in our- me and Jess'- universe, every single one of you is a character from a comic book series."

"What is this 'comic book' of which you speak?" Thor asked.

Riley chose to ignore him and looked over at the others on her side of the table. Natasha seemed to be in a slight shock, staring at her hands and occasionally glaring at Riley. Clint had his features schooled to impassiveness, not looking at anyone else.

Stark seemed interested and was ready to start badgering the girls with questions. Bruce seemed vaguely interested, but Steve almost looked bored. Then Riley remembered- he had trading cards. He probably had comic books too.

"Do you need us to prove it?" Riley demanded.

"Proof would be nice." Natasha's voice was steady.

Riley reached into her back pocket and withdrew two slips of paper. Jessica's eyes lit up as Riley withdrew her phone and put it on the table as well.

"There's your proof." She tossed the tickets onto the table- two tickets to the opening showing of the Avengers- the movie. Then she opened her phone and set up the video clip and hit play.

"Hey! If you guys are watching this in the future, don't ever forget how much FUN it was to wait in line for five hours to watch the PREMIERE OF THE NEWEST MARVEL FILM!" the two girls screamed in unison, jumping up and down as the camera shook.

"I mean, look at this!" Jessica from the past grabbed the phone and swung it around. Everywhere were people dressed in costumes close to what the Avengers wore on a day-to-day crime-fighting basis.

"Even we got into costume!" Riley yelled as her future self grabbed for the phone. "No! This is when it gets good!" Jessica whispered, shoving her hand down.

"I got this awesome tee-shirt at Hot Topic. Jessica made her helmet though." They could see her tug at her shirt, which was a baby blue with a representation of Captain America's shield on it. The camera shifted to reveal Jessica as she put on a huge horned helmet.

Steve Rogers shot a look at Riley as she looked away, blushing a bit.

"That looks like Loki's helmet," Thor said, voice... well, thundering.

"It was supposed to be. She took a metal-smithing class just to make the helmet," Riley whispered.

"It was heavy!" Jessica complained.

"And someone tried to steal it so you whacked them with it," Riley said. "It was an excellent defense mechanism when someone tried to steal our seats during intermission."

Jessica smirked and turned the volume down. "Midnight premiere in 3! 2! 1!" the entire place screamed as one, past Jessica and Riley included.

Riley shut the video off after that. She smiled a bit at the memories, then looked up. "Any questions?"


	4. Chapter 4

Hello again, everyone! Sorry it took me so long to update. I have actually FINISHED Alternate, so I can update much faster and finish this in record time- hopefully.

Enjoy this chapter and I don't own the Avengers, because if I did there would have been 7.

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"A million," Stark said abruptly, leaning forwards. "Did they get my looks right? How many other movies were there? What about-"

"Geez. Calm down. There were five other movies- Iron Man 1 and 2, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, and Thor. Agents Romanoff and Barton made cameos- Barton in Thor, Romanoff in Iron Man 2. They chose some of the best actors in the field to portray you guys- and I have to say they did a great job."

Jessica paused and Riley picked up the thread. "The Avengers broke so many box office records it wasn't even funny. It also got nominated for about every reward in the book. I don't have figures, so I can't tell you exactly how many, but I do know that the movie absolutely KILLED the final Harry Potter movie, and if you have that series here, you'll know just how popular it was."

"Wait, let's back up to the alternate universe part of the conversation," Fury said, cutting off a barrage of questions from the superheroes. "How exactly did you get here?"

"I wish I could tell you," Jessica said.

"All I can guess is the Tesseract dragged us here, for some unknown reason. It's frustrating- we've been planning this trip for YEARS, and to have it cut off before it's begun? Not pleased."

Riley smirked and stretched her arms up overhead. Her spine popped in about 4 different places. "As interesting as this one-sided interrogation is, I am rather tired. We didn't get much sleep on the plane."

"We'll get you temporary quarters on the ship. Your luggage should be here shortly," Fury said.

Maria Hill stood up. "I'll take them, Fury."

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They were escorted to rooms on the Helicarrier that were right across the hall from each other.

Riley grew bored of staring out the window soon and left to wander through the ship. She tried to memorize what turns she was taking, but soon lost track and just went upwards.

She reached the top of the ship accessible by her and leaned on the rail, hair blowing behind her as she inhaled the pure air. It was beautiful up so high, and she felt like she could touch a cloud.

Footsteps behind her almost startled her, but she relaxed when she found it was only Steve Rogers. He leaned on the rail next to her, simply enjoying the view.

"So what was up with the shirt?"

Riley blushed and stayed silent.

"I won't get mad."

She sighed. "I wanted to get it. Thought it... patriotic. Still have that shirt, somewhere. May have even brought it with me."

"It was... nice. Had a touch of a washed-out feel to it though."

"It was supposed to be like that. I don't entirely understand it myself, but oh well." She shrugged.

Her long dirty blonde hair fell into her face and she tucked it behind her ear. Riley glanced at the captain and smiled hesitantly.

"Thanks for finding Jessica's shoe, and for getting my luggage, too."

He started softly and looked at her. "You knew?"

"Almost as soon as Black Widow and Hawkeye stepped off their connecting flight and we saw them. Banner took about five minutes. You weren't that far behind and Stark boarded behind us- not exactly trying to stay undercover. When we saw Thor there to greet you, we knew something big was happening. We just didn't realize it was... us."

He laughed a bit.

Jessica barged in at that precise moment, door slamming open. "There you are Ri- Oh! Didn't know you had company." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Riley.

Riley turned a very pale shade of pink. "It's nothing. Not like we were talking about life or the meaning of the universe or anything important like that-"

"Or who your favorite Avenger is?"

"Nope." She wasn't surprised in the least. Jessica had always had an... unhealthy interest in her love life.

She brushed past Jessica and sprinted down towards the ground. Distantly she heard her say to Steve, "Did I say something wrong?"

She made it to the deck and closed her eyes, never knowing that they glowed with a pale blue light as she focused on her earlier skill. She backed up, ran forwards, and shoved off the ground.

She felt like she was flying through the air. She opened her eyes and found she was over 50 feet above the deck. Riley hovered for a moment and smiled- and then she was dropping.

Faster and faster she fell, pulling her arms in tight and knees to her chest. Right as she was about to hit, she threw her arms out and landed in a secluded corner of the Helicarrier.

The deck was solid enough that she didn't even dent it when she hit- though she would have to find some armored gloves for her hands. Her fists were now covered in blood from scrapes and cuts caused by the rough ground. She rose and looked around, back at her hands, and then took off for the infirmary.

Riley's hands were wrapped in her black shirt as she asked politely for directions from an agent. He spared her a curious glance, but obliged.

She entered and stopped short. Bruce Banner was speaking with a doctor inside. Slowly she backed up, but before she could leave he spotted her.

"Riley, isn't it?" he asked cautiously.

She nodded softly.

"What's up?" he asked, gesturing to her hidden hands.

"Kinda tore my hands up," she said sheepishly and slowly unwrapped them, hissing a bit as the partially dried blood came off with her shirt. He grabbed her right hand and looked at her incredulously.

"What did you do? Stick your hands in a blender?"

"Nah. Jumped and landed hard. My feet are fine, it's just my hands that- Ow!"

"Tarmac? Did you punch the ground?"

"Kinda..."

He sighed and gestured for her to go sit. She found a chair and looked around the sterile room, repressing a shiver.

Banner grabbed her hands and lightly wrapped them with gauze- luckily not too much or there would be questions.

"Don't do that again," he warned. "Get some gloves. Ask Natasha or Clint- they have the ears of the top."

"Got it," Riley said. She rose and smiled at him. "Thanks so much. See ya!"

She left as swiftly as she had entered and found her way back to her room.

Jessica was waiting patiently, computer out for their nighttime routine- anywhere from thirty minutes to all night of gaming. Riley sighed and shook her head, holding up her bandaged hands.

Jess was up in a shot, examining her hands. "What did you do?"

"I wanted to try out my new skills and kinda landed hard. Not pleasant on the hands."

"I guess no games tonight?"

"Nope. Not with these 'mitts on."

Jess sighed and closed her laptop. "See ya tomorrow. Night."

"Night," Riley sighed. She was asleep before she hit the pillow.


	5. Chapter 5

Holy Crap! Mega long chapter, Batman!

I will give out virtual cupcakes to anyone who can manage to spot the references to several different TV shows, a few songs, and will list the references in the next chapter. :) Have fun!

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"Doughnuts?"

Riley sighed and buried her head in her hands.

"I eat doughnuts now. Doughnuts are cool," Jessica said. She was seated, crosslegged, on a chair in the lounge-type area the Avengers were grouped in. She was still in her pj's, brushing her long curly brown hair.

"Just like you wear a fez and a bowtie?"

"Precisely!"

The rest of the gathered Avengers looked at the two strangely as they started laughing, Jessica full out, Riley quieter.

Stark had ordered that they meet and get off the ship for a while. Surprisingly, Banner had agreed, and Jessica and Riley did like their civilization. With four out of the gathered eight in favor, Stark had declared his vote worth two and they were leaving.

Riley made her way back to her room and pulled on a blue shirt and jeans. She spared a glance in the mirror, hastily grabbing for a hair tie to pull her shoulder length dirty blonde hair back.

Jessica came up behind her and draped both arms over her shoulders. "Hey, sis! Ready to go?"

Riley mentally compared the two girls. Both had long brown-ish hair, both were rather tall and very slender, and both were very, extremely, spectacularly, out of their element.

Stark commandeered a quinjet to take them to New York- apparently the closest major city. Even though he had no idea how to drive it, he sat down at the controls and began- what else?- hitting buttons.

Something caught Jessica's eye, who proceeded to glare at Riley until she said in irritation, "What?!"

Jessica then stared pointedly at a unobtrusive gray button.

A steady grin grew on Riley's face.

In unison, the two girls whispered, "I wonder what happens if I hit the gray button?"

Natasha and Thor, who were sitting closest to the two, shot them weird looks.

They landed in the middle of a Wal-mart parking lot and got off, with everyone staring at them and giving them odd looks. Riley pulled her sunglasses off her head and down onto the bridge of her nose, concealing her hazel eyes- which, she had been unpleasantly surprised to discover, had a tint of very light Tesseract blue. Jessica's own brown ones, she was sure, were the same.

They made their way down the street, Stark pointing out a few joints along the way. McDonalds got a flat out 'no' from Riley, Jessica, Romanoff, and Barton. A shady joint got no seal of approval from anyone, least of all Rogers, who glanced at the women in their unit and firmly suggested they move on.

Finally they settled on a small place with a cozy atmosphere and plenty of pastries. Thor, Banner and Rogers all got coffee, black as night, while Jessica made a beeline for another mocha frappe with caffeine. Riley opted out of the caffeine and added chocolate, which was topped by Jessica finding the hazelnut and chocolate to make a Nutella mocha frappe.

Riley ignored the rest of the Avengers ordering and chugged down half of her drink in one gulp. She made a face as it burnt her tongue and ignored it.

The bell on the door jingled slightly. Jessica glanced up from her seat across from Riley and Riley swore she could see Jessica switch from 'normal' to 'fangirl' mode in an instant.

"What is it now?" Riley asked.

"That guy... he looks like Tom Hiddleston!" she said, loudly enough that the rest of the Avengers heard and looked to who she was looking at.

The man had his back to them as he ordered something, but there was no mistaking the hair. Riley groaned. Oh, wonderful.

Without warning, Jessica leapt to her feet, sprinted around the table, and glomped onto Loki.

"JESSICA GOOD! What are you doing?!" Riley shouted, standing up, frappe in hand.

They both turned around at her voice, revealing that the tall man was, indeed, Loki.

Riley dropped a word her mother would not have tolerated as the Avengers saw just who the man was.

Thor was on his feet only seconds later as Riley yelled for Jessica to get her butt away from him. Natasha had her hand on her belt as Clint roared, "What the f*** are you doing on Earth?!" Steve- *when had she started of thinking of them by their first names?* reached out to drag Riley away as she yanked at Jessica's arm. Tony was rooting through his pockets for something as Bruce looked verrrry close to going over the edge.

"BROTHER!" Thor roared, opening his arms to hug his adoptive brother.

Loki took a step back and looked rather uncomfortably at all the other Avengers. Riley mentally did a headcount. Bruce was ok- for the moment- Natasha's hand hadn't moved from her belt, Clint was ready to blow a gasket and she had her hand around Jessica's wrist. Steve was standing slightly in front of them- ever the gentleman- and Tony? Tony had his iPhone out and was videoing the entire thing.

"Brother!" Thor boomed. He didn't seem to have a quieter setting than "eardrum buster". "Why have I not received word that you are on Midgard?"

Before Loki could answer, Jessica pulled out a pair of 'nerd glasses', or movie glasses with the lenses popped out, and triumphantly said, "Maybe he just wanted to stay..." She flicked her glasses out and put them on. "Low-key."

"Yeeeeeaaaaaaah!" Riley said loudly, laughing in spite of the serious situation.

Loki facepalmed instantly, while Tony- still filming- seemed to be the only one who got the joke and was laughing as well. Everyone else stood there, clueless.

"Oh come on," Jessica moaned. "That was GREAT and it got totally wasted on all of you guys."

"While this conversation may be enlightening, I believe a better place to discuss this would be the Helicarrier." Bruce was very delicate in his suggestion, but Riley could sense the underlying message- 'get me out of here before I lose it!'

"No. Not on the Helicarrier," Natasha said firmly.

"Do you see a better place to speak near here?" Bruce snapped.

"Actually..." Riley drawled, with a pointed look at Tony. "There's a place up the street with your name on it."

"The last time he was there he left a hole in the floor. If he does it again he's paying for the repairs," Tony said snappishly.

"Let's just go before we get ten million hits on Youtube instead of the 3 we just hit," Jessica said, examining her phone.

(0)^_^(0)

Fortunately, the quinjet got them to the Tower faster than walking. Clint refused to look at Loki the entire ride back, instead focusing on whatever the Widow was whispering. Bruce was exceedingly quiet and Steve had elected to sit between the two girls and Loki, while Thor chose to seat himself across from his brother.

Tony flew the plane to a safe landing in a small parking lot behind the Avenger's Tower. They offloaded the people and headed up into a rather familiar lounge for the two girls.

Loki shot a distasteful look at a section of floor that Riley guessed was the location the Hulk had smashed him into. She hid a small smirk and inclined her head to Bruce, who looked at her in confusion.

She sidled over to him and whispered, "Favorite part of the movie? Puny god."

He gave her a strained smile and disappeared into the elevator to go somewhere.

Jessica made as if to plonk herself down on a barstool that Riley was sure that spun, but at the last moment Riley dragged her towards the elevators. "We'll be in the main lobby. Just tell Jarvis when you're done," she whispered to Tony.

"Hey, I know the Helicarrier is super uncomfortable. Would you like to hang out here until we can figure out how to get you back to your own world?" Tony asked.

Riley had to hold in her own squeals of delight. Instead, she played it cool and nodded.

"We're gonna need to grab our stuff from the Helicarrier," Riley pointed out as Jessica sat on the barstool and spun around experimentally.

"Take Legolas and the spider with you. It's gonna get strained if Loki starts pushing buttons."

"Thanks for the heads up," she said. "Jessica! You break it, you pay."

Jessica followed her to the ground floor before Riley started jumping up and down and squeaking. "What?!" Jessica snapped.

"We're moving into Avenger's Tower!" she squealed, which set Jessica off as well.

The elevator dinged and they stopped and looked completely natural as Natasha and Clint stepped out of the elevator. "Heading back to the Helicarrier? Tony asked that we take you."

"Yeah. He... didn't mention it?"

"Mention what?" Natasha got a look on her face that Riley associated with dealing with a small child.

"He invited us to live here," Jessica said.

"Unless it's not ok with you," Riley said nervously.

"Nah, it's ok." Clint's smile was strained, and Riley hoped that that was just because Loki was there.

They packed up their stuff and found their suitcases near the quinjet. Natasha showed up as they lifted their stuff onto the plane- only two bags each- and gestured for them to follow her.

"What's up?"

"Something way better than any shopping mall. Hill told me that Fury wanted you outfitted with weapons. So..."

"Armory it is," Jessica said with a satisfied smirk.

"Any weapons you know how to handle?" she asked as she led them down many twists and turns.

"I've taken fencing courses before. Probably lower intermediate class," Jessica said.

"Well, not much of any weapon," Riley said. "Though I do like sharp edged weapons."

"We're here," Natasha said, and opened the door to a haven for the girls.

Jessica made a beeline for a section on fencing swords, while Riley wandered and Natasha vanished, presumably to restock.

Riley drifted lazily past the guns and short knives. Poisons held little of interest to her, and she passed those easily.

However, when she came to the long swords, she swore she could feel one sword practically calling her name. Riley examined it thoroughly before she picked it up.

It was a broadsword, double bladed, about three feet long with hilt. It was light enough to pick up with one hand, but strong enough to not break under pressure.

She grabbed the hilt and swore she felt a surge of energy. She stepped back from the display case and sliced at air, surprised that it came so naturally to her. Jessica glanced at her, holding a blade she didn't know the name of. It had a sharp point, but instead of smooth sides they were sharpened like a sword- similar to a rapier.

"Find anything?" she asked.

Riley nodded and held up the broadsword. "My weapon of choice has been decided."

"As has mine. Any accessories? Mine came with a sheath," Jessica said.

Riley went back to check and found a hefty leather belt that went shoulder to hip. The sheath could turn almost 120 degrees to accommodate shifting the strap from shoulder-to-hip to hip-to-hip.

Natasha came around the corner with two guns and a few spare clips and gave the girls the guns. "For long distance," she explained. "Found your weapon?"

Riley stepped back and slid the broadsword from it's sheath, holding it in a defensive position. Jessica brought her rapier out of it's own sheath and held it in an offensive position.

"A simple yes would have sufficed. We're leaving in a bit- Fury got some answers from Loki."

"Good or bad?" Jessica asked eagerly.

"Depends on your position. Clint doesn't like them. Nor do I care for the... convenience of this whole incident."

Riley sheathed her sword and said, "Lead on!"


	6. Chapter 6

Hey again guys! Well done with the guessing! You most definitely caught the Doctor Who reference about the fez and the bowtie. There was also a song reference that was harder to catch- "I wonder what happens if I hit the gray button?" That's a reference to Family Force 5's song Cray Button. It's great- check it out.

There's another reference to a rising band- go ahead and tell me where in the comments!

Thank all of you for your continued support!

Oh! And cupcakes go to Cordillia Bennet, Vana Jedi, UK, and LiveWithLove42! *noms*

(0)^_^(0)

They made their way back to the quinjet and Clint drove once again. "I'd love to learn to drive one of these things," Jessica whispered quietly.

Natasha heard and answered swiftly, "No."

"Awwwww, why not?" she complained.

"You're not learning to drive one of these things. That's final."

Riley laughed the rest of the way to Avenger's Tower.

They arrived and Tony came out to greet them. "Got everything?"

"Even a new weapon. How's it going with Loki?"

"He's saying that the Allfather or whatever cast him specifically into an all-mortal universe. He doesn't know how he got here."

"BS," Clint muttered as he brushed past them.

"Could be..." Riley muttered. "Could be the truth as well."

"He's God of Mischief and Lies. Everything he says has some ulterior motive."

Tony led the way and opened the elevator. "Jarvis, 34 floor please," he said.

The doors opened and Tony said, "Make yourself comfortable," he said with a shrug. "This can be your home until you get back to your... universe?"

"Yeah. Thank you." They stepped out and the doors closed behind them.

Jessica put her carryon down on the floor as Riley looked around. There were the unmistakeable touches of Pepper- who, unfortunately, Riley had yet to meet. There was one main room with two doorways, leading to a bedroom with two twin beds with two blue comforters on them and a bathroom.

There was a small kitchen in the open room, connected to a tiny dining room. Riley dumped her computer bag on the table and flopped on the cream couch with a sigh.

Jessica sank into a matching chair and set up her computer. She found the wireless network for Avenger's Tower and sighed.

"Locked."

"Hey, Jarvis, are we allowed to have the password for the wireless network?"

"Let me check with Mr. Stark."

There was a pause, then the AI said, "He said yes. The password is StarkRules."

"Why am I not surprised?" Riley asked wryly.

They set up their game and logged into the single player world. Riley opened it to LAN and began messing around as Jessica joined.

They messed around for a bit more before the elevator dinged and Loki stepped out of the elevator. Riley watched warily as Jessica squealed like a fangirl and ran to hug him.

He awkwardly patted her back and pushed her away. Riley smirked at Jessica's puppy-like pout.

"The Avengers have informed me that I will be staying here until they can send me back to the universe Odin wanted me to go to in the first place," Loki said crisply. "They also asked that I get you to go to the main lounge."

"Did they say what for?" Riley asked.

"No. Not an idea."

"Thanks for coming to tell us!" Jessica said with a cheerful smile and laugh. She tried to hug him again, but he smoothly sidestepped it and Riley dragged her into the elevator.

(0)^_^(0)

They exited the elevator on the main floor. Tony was behind the bar, mixing some drink while talking science with Bruce. Steve was examining an iPad and asking Clint how it worked, with Natasha looking on and Thor just as confused as Steve.

Riley headed over to the sitting area to explain how the electronic worked to Steve, while Jessica wandered over to watch Tony mix drinks.

"It's a touch screen," she said, sitting down on the only empty chair.

"A... touch screen?" he asked

She gently placed the iPad on the table and opened Cut the Rope with a single tap of her index finger. She started him on the beginning level and showed him how to feed the little green monster.

"So that's how you use this thing!" Steve said triumphantly. He glanced up at Riley and pushed the iPad towards her. "You play."

"Thank you!" she said with a smile and began working. She breezed through the easier levels at a fast pace and made it to the third box before pushing it back to him.

"You've played this before," Clint accused.

"iPhone 4S, iPod Touch, and an iPad. Of course I've played it before," she said. "Solved the entire thing too."

"So, Tesseract!" Tony said as he came over and sat down at the table. He tossed a manila folder on the table as Bruce came over as well.

"What about it?"

"Why did it bring you two and Reindeer Games back to earth?"

"Good question. Next question," Riley said.

"Really, though. What would the reason be?"

"I wish I knew. There's got to be something though," Jessica said, sounding slightly frustrated.

"Could be that it just messed up," Natasha said with a shrug.

"It's the Tesseract. It doesn't just mess up," Bruce said.

"Would you know anything about this?" Clint asked the girls.

"Well... I do know we have... I guess super powers."

"Super jump and super fast, correct?" Thor boomed.

Riley nodded. "It's got to be the Tesseract that's causing it."

"Why?"

The two shot a wary glance at each other. They shot covert glances at Clint, who noticed and frowned.

"It's... it's all in the eyes," Riley sighed, looking down.

"The- oh." Steve paused as Clint rocketed to his feet and stormed out.

"My eyes are normally hazel-green-grey. Now they have Tesseract blue in them too," she said quietly.

"Mine are brown blue now," Jessica said, tapping her head.

"Not only that, but I've never touched a sword in my life and my broadsword? It's like I've been fighting for years." Riley sighed. "I just wish that I could lose the color. It's scary. First time I looked in the mirror I just about freaked."

"Same."

"Care to give us a demonstration of the new powers?"

"Sure! Got a training room with a few dummies?"

"Floor 52. Let's go."

"I'll take the stairs and beat ya there," Jessica challenged.

"Good luck!"

Riley pulled a five dollar bill out and said, "Five bucks says she wins."

"Deal," Tony said, never one to pass up a bet.

Jessica was waiting, tapping her foot when they stepped off the elevator. Tony grumbled and handed Riley the money.

Jessica tossed Riley her sword which she grabbed out of the air and swung over her shoulder. She walked to stand in front of a dummy and smiled a bit.

Without warning she attacked, sword flashing as it lopped off both arms and the head of the dummy. She followed it up with a stab to the heart.

Jessica stepped forward and said, "A mere flesh wound!"

"So you can do better?"

"Let me at it!"

Riley grandly gestured to the other dummy.

Jessica held her rapier up in a defensive position and paused, before going for it, leaping forward and back as she stabbed the dummy multiple times, finishing with a slit throat.

"Nicely done. What about the speed and jumping?" Natasha asked.

"I won't be able to get too much height, it's a fairly low ceiling. I can try though."

Jessica went first, running at a fairly quick pace. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath- and took off. She was a blurr of motion as she ran around the Avengers.

"Going over 100 miles an hour," Tony said, holding up his phone.

"Gives new meaning to 'running circles around you'," Bruce said.

Riley simply stood back as Jessica skidded to a halt and went flying into the mat on the wall with an "Oomph!" She comedically stopped, splayed over the wall, then slowly slid down.

"You could have stopped," Riley called with a laugh, as she moved forward to stand in the middle of the room.

"It was funnier this way," Jessica yelled back, sitting up to watch.

Riley closed her eyes and focused solely on the jump. She bent her knees and launched into the air, knowing full well that she would hit the ceiling. She flipped herself and grabbed onto the handholds in the ceiling, tucked herself in, and flipped as she fell, landing lightly on the mat.

"That was a twenty foot ceiling that you just grabbed onto," Tony said. "From a standing start."

"Probably coulda caught another ten feet of air, just from standing. I cleared fifty feet in Paris, when we were running." Riley tried not to look to excited, but her eyes must have given her away, because Jessica said, "Riley. Calm down... calm down... there's a good girl."

She tried to pat Riley's head, but Riley dodged and glared. "Give me a break, it's not everyday that you turn superhuman!" she yelled.

"Whaaaatever. Deal with it, fangirl."

"Look who's talking," Riley shot right back, walking over to another dummy. "I'm gonna let off some steam. Care to join me?" The invitation was directed at all of them, though she didn't really expect any to take her up on it except Jessica.

"Me."

"You were a given, Jess. iPod?"

"Here. And headphones." Jess passed her and handed them to her.

She plugged the headphones, stuck one in her ear and waved at the other Avengers as they drifted out. She scrolled through the songs and smiled as she found her favorite fighting song.

"It's time," Jessica called.

Riley grinned at the double meaning and unsheathed her sword as the music began to play.

She bobbed her head for a moment before softly murmuring, "So this is what you meant, when you said that you were spent, and now it's time to build from the bottom of the pit right to the top... Don't hold back... packin' my bags and givin' the academy a rain check..."

She slashed an 'X' in the dummy's chest before attacking, cutting the dummy all over, feeling more at home by the moment. "I'm never changin' who I am," she whispered as she paused, sword point on the ground.

Slash, dodge, strike, slice, roll, attack. She shut down everything except for her hearing and her feeling of the sword in her hands. The music reached a crescendo as with a triumphant shout, she sliced the head off the dummy.

It fell and rolled to a halt at her feet. She stared at it silently as the music came to an end, only now aware that she was alone. The single window showed that it was dark outside, with the beautiful New York skyline laid out before her.

She glanced at her iPod, only now realizing that it had been on repeat the entire time. She had been going at it for hours.

Riley sighed and walked over to sit on a balance beam. She didn't understand the reason it was there, but she guessed that Tony had thought it a bench of some sort. No one was a balance beam type of person at Avenger's Tower.

"Hi, Agent Barton," she said to the apparently empty room.

The ceiling vent opened and Clint dropped through to land on the ground. Riley didn't meet his eyes, not wanting him to be uncomfortable with the blue she was sure was still there.

"You knew I was there?"

"Wasn't sure at first. I thought maybe, after I did the whole jump thing. But if you had stayed quiet, I wouldn't have known."

A sliver of a smile appeared on Clint's face, vanishing quickly as Riley dared to glance up. Her eyes met his and he quickly turned away.

"Bad memories?"

He sighed shakily. "Nightmares."

Riley nodded, saying nothing. She expected it when he walked toward the door.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

He paused, hand on the doorknob, before leaving.

Riley waited for him to take the elevator to wherever before leaving herself.


	7. Chapter 7

Probably the longest chapter I have ever written- simply because I couldn't find a good stopping place. Have fun reading- it was certainly fun writing!

DISCLAIMER: I wish I owned the Avengers. Better yet, I wish I lived with the Avengers. Better still, I wish I WAS an Avenger! But unfortunately none of these things will ever come true. Sad face.

And I almost forgot! References for last chapter included Monty Python! ("A mere flesh wound!") Also Imagine Dragons- It's Time!

I also need some help. Can anyone give me ideas for nicknames for Tony to call the girls? There is a rather conspicuous lack of them.

(0)^_^(0)

"The Other."

"No."

"Thanos?"

"Plausible."

"Previous villain?"

"Most likely."

"Hydra?"

"Oh God, don't even start."

"What are you two talking about?" Natasha asked finally in frustration, after watching the tennis match that was the two girls talking.

"The most likely reason for us being here," Jessica said with a shrug. "It's probably a villain, so we're bouncing ideas off of each other."

"You mean you're bouncing them off Riley."

"Yup."

A week had passed. The two girls were getting slightly bored of wandering around Avenger's Tower and had started wandering through New York. On that particular Wednesday, it was rainy, so they had opted to stay in.

"Where's Pepper?" Jessica asked out of the blue.

"Hm?" Tony asked from his place at the bar, chatting with Bruce about some science related to the Tesseract, Thor inputting when he could.

"Pepper. The PA."

"Oh. Visiting family. Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering. She was everywhere in the movies," Jessica said with a shrug.

Over the week the girls had told the Avengers all about the movies that had been made based on their experiences. Steve had been rather shy about his, while Tony had begged for details as to his own, and Thor had simply boomed, "There was a movie made about my time on Midgard?" Bruce hadn't left his lab when they said they would speak of his.

"Hey, by the way, I wanted to take you to see the Tesseract. You know, see if it reacts to your presence," Bruce said, rising from his seat and walking over to where they were sitting.

"Alright, when?" Jessica asked lazily.

"Now, if that's ok with you."

Riley rose and dusted her jeans off. "Lead the way! Got nothing better to do in any case..."

They took the elevator up to the lab in which the Tesseract was being held. Thor had brought it from Asgard to Earth after it began flaring up.

Riley stepped out of the elevator and walked straight to the Tesseract. Jessica wasn't far behind as she shifted some tools and sat comfortably on one of the tables.

Riley looked at it curiously and frowned. "It's smaller than I remember the movie showing. But then, everyone knows that-"

"-the books are better than the movies," the two girls finished in a chorus.

Riley ignored the two scientists talking with Jessica, answering all her questions. She stared at the Tesseract, feeling a slight tickle and a question at the back of her mind. She pretended her mind was a castle and opened a small door to see what it wanted.

"Let me in..." it seemed to whisper. "Let me show you truth..."

"No thanks, not interested," Riley said firmly, and slammed the door in it's... face?

"Hear me out..."

She looked through the peephole and listened as it whispered of powers to save the ones she loved. Of a free and beautiful place it could take her.

"I'll let you in. But only on three conditions..."

She withdrew moments later and blinked, as the awareness settled into the back of her mind.

"You ok, Ri?" Jessica asked.

Riley turned and nodded. "Yeah. Tesseract doesn't seem to be reacting to us though," she lied smoothly.

"Sorry we couldn't help," Jessica apologized.

Bruce shrugged. "Don't worry about it. See you later." He got back to work as they walked to the elevator and left the two scientists to it.

A few days passed as they lazed around. Riley kept her new-found knowledge secret from the rest of the Avengers and acted as if nothing had happened. Tuesday they decided to hang out in the lounge with the others and headed up.

"What's up?" Steve asked as they stepped into the main lounge. He was wearing his leather jacket and looked slightly wet and windblown.

"Oh! You're back! Nothing much. Avenger's Tower is still standing, isn't it?" Riley said cheerfully, heading back over to the coffee table.

"Good ride? You ought to take Riley out on a ride sometime," Jessica said, mischief dancing in her eyes as Riley blushed and smacked at her head.

"Jessica!" she yelped, glancing over at Steve with an exasperated look. "Sorry-"

"No, it's a good idea," Steve said hastily. "If you ever do want to go out-"

Riley blushed even more and said, "I'll be sure to ask."

Jessica squealed. Partially because of the cuteness, partially because the elevator doors opened to reveal Loki.

Clint stood straight up and walked past him to enter the elevator. Natasha sighed and followed him silently, with the barest of nods to the girls, Steve, Thor, and Loki.

"Welcome, brother! I am very pleased that you have taken it upon yourself to join us!" Thor boomed.

"The pleasure is... all mine," Loki said, eyeing the room with a poorly hidden distaste.

Riley rolled her eyes and grabbed the iPad to open Cut the Rope. Steve sat down at the chair closer to her end of the couch to watch her play as Jessica dragged Loki over to Thor to talk about Asgard.

"So you lived in Brooklyn, right?" Riley asked as she frowned at a difficult level.

"Hm? Me? Oh, yeah. Small town boy in Brooklyn. You?"

"Small town just outside of Dallas." A comfortable silence fell, before Riley asked, "What was it like, being in the military?"

Steve paused.

"I mean, both of my grandfathers were in the military, my uncles, cousins, friends... My dad would have been as well, but he had some health issues that wouldn't allow it. Selfishly, I was glad, 'cause I wouldn't have known how to deal with the loss, had he died." Riley sighed. "I kinda wanted to join as well. Maybe not as a soldier, but as a journalist. My mom's friend's daughter was one."

"It was difficult. Before the serum, I was pretty sick. Short, weak. I wanted to join, but no one would let me. A scientist overheard me talking to my friend and said he was interested in having me join something called Project Rebirth. So, they gave me the serum. And..." he trailed off and waved vaguely to himself. "This happened."

Riley nodded, turning the iPad off to pay more attention and tilting her head slightly.

"I was a poster boy for a while. Toured around, asking the public to buy war bonds. I finally got fed up and went to Howard Stark-"

"Wait. Tony's dad?"

"Yeah. He agreed and made me a suit to wear in combat. I gathered a team and we fought together to destroy a madman, who had received an earlier version of the serum which had more... side effects."

Riley nodded in understanding.

"It was... difficult. I didn't even defeat him- he handled the Tesseract and it dissolved him. We were on a plane, and the Tesseract burned through the floor and dropped into the ocean. The plane was going down- I had to crash it... and I wake up and it's 70 years later and everyone I knew was dead."

He sighed and looked slightly lost. Riley stayed silent, before Steve looked at her slightly accusingly.

"Why are you asking? You watched the movie. You should know."

"Ste- Rogers," Riley corrected mid-word. "Jessica and I have a saying. The books are better than the movies. Or, in your case, real life is better than the movies. There's only so much Hollywood can do, and most of it is really pathetic in comparison to real life."

Steve laughed, slightly bitter. "You've got that right."

"I bet it was hard, waking up in another world."

"You have no idea."

"Actually..." Riley trailed off. She sighed. "Practically none of my friends ever existed. My mother and father? Never born. Even my dogs never were real in this universe."

"Sorry to hear th-"

An explosion shook the tower. Riley stood straight up and wobbled as another explosion rocked the tower. Steve stood and steadied her as Jessica ran to the elevator, only for it to open to reveal Clint and Natasha.

"Are you ok?!" Clint yelled, immediately glaring at Loki. He stepped back and held up his hands as the archer fingered his bow.

"Yeah. It's gotta be... oh crap. The lab!" Jessica shouted, sprinting for the stairs as a third explosion shook them. Riley was right on her heels.

Jessica sped up the levels as Riley sprang upward and maneuvered herself onto the landing. They threw open the double doors at the same time, only to see Bruce, struggling to control himself, and Tony out cold against the wall, with the Tesseract gone, all windows broken, and soot all over the walls.

The elevator dinged open and the rest of the Avengers- plus Loki- spilled into the lab. Riley made her way to Tony's side and knelt, checking his neck for a pulse.

"He's alive, but knocked out. Jess, how's Banner?" she asked in worry.

"Not doing well... Not good! Not good at all!"

Riley whirled to see the Hulk roar as he ripped out of Bruce. Fear covered her face and turned her pale white as he roared again and looked around for a target.

Unfortunately, while the rest of the Avengers had weapons and Loki was close to the elevator, Tony was unconscious and Riley and Jessica hadn't had time to grab their weapons. Any of them.

Jessica sprinted to stand next to Riley as she rose to her feet slowly, hoping not to draw too much attention. Sadly, Jessica's rapid movement had caught the Hulk's eye, and he was now focused fully on them.

Riley 'meeped' as he came towards them and pressed her back against the wall.

"Hey!" Clint yelled, as Natasha shot a single shot at him. It caught his attention all right, but the Hulk preferred prey that didn't fight back.

"If we don't make it you're the best friend ever, sis," Riley whispered to Jessica.

"Ditto."

Steve urgently gave orders the girls couldn't hear and began sprinting towards them. The Hulk roared in anger and threw a lab table at him. but he dodged, blocked, and continued the gauntlet.

"Calm down and think, Banner!" Thor boomed, slamming his hammer into the Hulk's side, throwing him across the room. That gave Steve time enough to reach the sisters and the still-unconscious Tony. The Hulk slowly got back up and roared again, advancing fast on them.

He raised his fist and slammed down - into Captain America's shield. Riley winced at the resounding clang and bit her lip, not knowing what to do.

"Run for them!" he shouted, and pointed at the elevator with the trio of Avengers and Loki. "Try to make it- we'll give you cover!"

Jessica went first and easily made it as her super speed had her safely out of reach before he could really pay attention to her. Riley readied herself to run and bit her lip.

"Don't go yet!" Steve yelled to her, as Hawkeye shot his arrow and reached to nock another one, and the Black Widow switched clips. Thor was calling his hammer back to him after another swing at the Hulk.

Unfortunately, Riley heard "Go!" over the Hulk's chaos, and took a chance. She sprinted towards them and had time to see yet another lab table coming at her before she threw herself forwards and the table hit the wall with a smash. It fell and landed mere inches from her left arm.

Riley sat straight up, coughing as plaster rained down on her head. She had been hoping that this was all just a dream, but unfortunately the Hulk was still the Hulk, Tony was still unconscious and Jessica was making a run for her.

Riley shoved herself to her feet and sprinted to the group by the elevator. The doors opened and Loki stepped out, holding the two girl's swords. Riley gave him a shocked glance and grabbed her sword as Jessica wrapped both arms around his middle and squeezed.

"Let go before you pop him and get moving!" Riley hissed, drawing her sword and sprinting back to Tony's side. Jessica followed and together they lifted him up and dragged him to the elevator, with Steve covering their backs.

They made it safely, but only just. The lab was wrecked, everything destroyed. The Tesseract was missing. They had a Hulk that wouldn't calm down.

"Banner! I know you're in there!" Riley yelled, blocking a thrown chair with her sword. "Try to think straight!"

"The Hulk will not listen!" Thor thundered, swinging his hammer to intercept another desk.

"It never hurts to try!" Jessica shouted. "We know you're in there, Bruce!"

"Calm down! Whoever was here is gone now!"

The Hulk roared as he stopped and looked confused. He began shrinking down to regular Banner size as Riley turned around to keep his privacy.

Tony moaned and rubbed his head. "What- what 'appened?" He slurred his words as he tried to sit up.

"That's what we'd like to know as well," Natasha said grimly, kneeling next to him. "We felt some explosions and the Tesseract is gone."

"Sh**." Tony rubbed his head and shoved himself to his feet. "They wore all black and dropped something over the Tesseract. It must have set off a wave of energy because I was flying through the air and then- nothing. I must have gotten knocked out."

"You hit the wall with a good bit of force. There were two more explosions as well. The last one must've set the Hulk off."

"Hydra."

Bruce was sitting up, voice raspy. He was pulling his shirt on as Jessica straightened and shot him a curious look.

"It was Hydra. They had the emblem on their shoulder. The skull, with the swirls- unmistakable."

Riley whispered, "Weapons. They want to make weapons. Using the Tesseract, like SHIELD started to."

"Oh crap," Jessica muttered. "Not good."

Steve wiped his forehead and put his shield down. "And now they have the Tesseract. This isn't good."

"Understatement of the century. But... I may be able to get it back..." Riley whispered softly, hoping no one would hear her.

"What do you mean, 'you may be able to get it back'?" Tony demanded, leaning on the wall.

Riley sighed. "The Tesseract... offered me a deal. I refused at first, but it told me... that it could help me protect those that I loved. I accepted- on some conditions-"

"You traitor."

Tony Stark glared at her in fury.

"I let you come in and live here, and you repay my trust by letting the Tesseract into your mind? What kind of monster are you?!"

Riley flinched and walked to the stairway. "I... I understand. I'll leave."

"Get out!" Stark roared, standing up straight and stalking towards her.

Fear covered her face as her left eye glowed fully blue. Her eyes darted everywhere, meeting betrayed faces at every glance. The two that cut the worst were Jessica and Rogers. She stepped onto the landing and slammed the door in Stark's face.

Riley ran.

Down the stairs into her room. She packed a small bag and thrust her suitcase under her bed and slid her computer into her bag.

She sprinted out to the staircase again and ran down the stairs. Distantly she heard a door slam open. Voices echoed downward and she sobbed as she ran faster.

Jessica was catching up as she came downwards. Riley knew she would never make it to the bottom and made her choice.

She shoved herself over the side and freefell towards the ground.

Riley heard shouts of "She's escaping!" as she landed, leaving another crater. She slid the door open and sprinted into the lobby. The doors opened as she slid through the first one, only for the second to open halfway and start to close.

Riley sprinted and rolled through the partially open door as it slammed shut behind her. She ran out into the street, backpack on her back, and kept running, never once looking back.

She glanced around and saw a security camera riveted on her. She frowned, shielded her face, and sprinted across the street to the entrance to the subway.

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"We lost her," Tony said, frustration on his face. "Somewhere in the subway, she vanished."

He sat back in his chair with the feeds from security cameras all over New York showing around him. Steve sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"If she doesn't want to be found she'll vanish," Jessica said, face stony. "She was always good at hide-and-seek. But she's impatient. If we wait, she'll come to us."

"Are you sure?" Natasha demanded, leaning on the chair.

"Totally sure."

"Then we wait?"

"And search for the Tesseract. I don't believe she knows where it is." Clint's voice was cold.

"What if... she was telling the truth?" Jessica said suddenly. "The Tesseract can invade minds- sorry," she said to Clint, "but Riley is too good to allow it to fully take over. It's in her very blood. We always joked that I would lead the baddies and she would lead the good if we ever got in a battle." Her eyes danced as she said, "It's why she always fell for the good guys. Including Steve."

Steve turned red.

"But really, where was she last? I can scout out the area."

"It was about two blocks to the east of Stark Tower and five blocks north. Check the subway station very closely. Take someone with you-"

"Loki," she said immediately.

Stark frowned. "I was thinking Clint and Nat, but I guess you can take Loki. It's dangerous in that area."

Jessica smiled bitterly. "If Riley were here, she would probably say, 'It's dangerous to go alone- take this!' and hand me something like a pen. But she's not. So I'll head out to find her."

"We shall keep looking for the Tesseract," Thor boomed. "I wish you luck in your pursuit."

Jessica rose and smiled. "Thanks, Thor. I appreciate it."

"We'll start chasing the Tesseract signals when Bruce is better," Natasha said, standing with Jessica. "Good luck."

"I'll need it." And with those ominous words, Jessica walked to the elevator and vanished.


	8. Chapter 8

Hi all! Rather disappointed with the last chapter- I got one review. Thanks to Purple 'N' Blue Wings for that review!

No references in this or the last chapter. I do hope you enjoy, and please take just a few seconds to review!

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Riley stayed undercover for the next few days. She wore sunglasses out in public and a different hoodie every time to avoid being noticed.

She did see the Avengers occasionally. Every time she managed to avoid being noticed, though it did hurt her heart to see Jessica with Loki, searching casually for her.

Steve found her, surprisingly. It was a hazy Tuesday night and he called her cellphone- where he had gotten her number and a cell she would never know, though she suspected Jessica.

Her phone went off and she pulled it out of her pocket, opened it, and held it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Riley?"

"Steve?!"

"Where are you?"

"Steve, I- I can't tell you. Stark kicked me out, remember? I can't. He would probably kill me."

"No, I wanted to talk to you," he said pleadingly.

She weighed the pros and cons silently.

"Riley?"

"Where are you right now?" she asked slowly.

"Central Park."

"Give me a few minutes. I'll meet you at the fountain." She clicked her phone off and took off at high speeds through New York on her new favorite mode of transportation- skateboard.

She arrived within a few minutes, hopping off her skateboard and walking through the park as she looked around. The park had become one of her favorite hangouts after she escaped Avenger's Tower, and she knew about 500 places to hide that were legal. She wouldn't say how many were illegal.

The fountain appeared in front of her as the sky grew dark. Steve was sitting on a bench nearby, and she pulled her hoodie back and sunglasses off as he glanced at her. A grin spread across his face as she ran towards him. He stood and hugged her as Riley threw her arms around him.

"Hi!" she said happily, burying her head in his shoulder as he hugged her tightly.

"Hi yourself," he said, drawing back and looking at her. "You're ok? No injuries?"

"I'm fine. You?" she asked, smiling brightly up at him.

"I'm ok. Where have you been for the past week or so?"

A shadow fell over her face. "I wish I could say, but I don't know if we're being watched. I missed you, though."

"Jessica misses you more," he said.

"Yeah. I bet. Have you got any leads on the Tesseract?" she asked curiously.

"No." Steve sighed heavily as they walked over to the bench and sat. "Not a bit. Bruce isn't getting any signals at all."

Riley paused, then sighed. "Mexico City."

"What- you mean-"

"The Tesseract is located in Mexico City," she said patiently. "Hydra found weapons that they buried before you defeated them. They want to get revenge. Please... be careful."

"How-"

She held up a hand. "Don't ask. I don't want the one person who will actually still talk to me to quit."

He pushed her hand down. "Don't worry about that. I won't quit- I promise."

"Do they know?"

He didn't need to know who she was talking about. "No. Jessica may- I borrowed her phone to find your number. But otherwise- no."

She smiled and linked her arm with his. "I'm glad you called. It gets lonely, where I'm hanging out."

"Where are you hanging out?"

"I can't tell, Steve. Actually, I probably should leave now." Riley stood up and dusted herself off. "The longer I hang out, the better chance they have of finding me."

Steve stood as well. "I'll send you a message when we're getting ready to leave. Where should I tell them I heard this?"

"Um... tell them I texted Jessica. I will, actually. Just Mexico City." Riley smiled up at him and hugged him one last time before she grabbed her skateboard. "Bye, Steve."

She took off as he called, "Wait!" But his voice was lost to the wind as she left the park.

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The next Saturday Riley got a text from Steve.

She stopped her skateboard and pulled out her phone to examine it.

"Dear Riley, we are leaving tonight. Jess knows about you. We can get you on the plane. Text back soon. -Steve"

Riley smiled and texted back, "Ok. Where should we meet?"

It was only a moment later that Steve said from behind her, "Here's fine."

She jumped and turned around. Steve was standing there, with Jessica- and the rest of the Avengers.

Riley pulled her hood back and sunglasses off warily. "Hi..." she said slowly, looking at Steve with a bit of betrayal.

"They had a microphone and a camera on me without my knowledge," Steve said with a sigh. "I'm sorry."

Riley tried to smile, but it fell flat as she drew away from Tony. There was unmistakable fear in her eyes as Natasha stepped forwards. She backed up and dropped her skateboard, ready to run at a moment's notice.

"I can outrun you," Jessica warned.

"Yeah, but can you rooftop run?" Riley asked, flashing a grin- all teeth, no smile.

"You can?" Clint asked.

"I've been practicing. Wanna see?" And she was off.

Her precious skateboard had its wheels shot off almost instantly. Riley swore, rolled as she tripped, came up and kept running, hood up.

She took a swift turn into a back alley with one way in. She was up the fire escape before Jessica skidded to a halt at the foot of the alley.

Riley hid behind a smokestack as she heard the unmistakeable whirring of the Iron Man suit. Thor landed not far away with a crunching of gravel.

Before more could surround her, Riley took off at a sprint over the rooftop towards the twenty foot wide street. With a running start, she launched, soared- and made it.

She could see Jessica trying to track her movements. With a smirk, Riley ran forward to another roof, launched, and rolled as she landed.

She fell twenty feet to the next one and skidded as an arrow buried itself in the gravel in front of her. She tracked the path and saw Hawkeye, standing on a roof far away.

The Widow landed behind her and Riley got running again. Over an A/C unit, under a few pipes, then over another ten foot gap. Her superjump skills served her well as she kept moving over New York. If she could just get out of the city...

But it was not to be. As she leapt to another roof, Jessica caught her attention and messed up her jump. Even with her powers, the hundred foot drop would kill her or severely injure her.

Time went in slow motion as she fell, closing her eyes, praying for an intervention.

WHAM!

The G force of the sudden halt knocked her head funny. She couldn't see straight, but she could tell that Thor had just caught her and she was now on the ground.

"Hey! You ok?" someone shouted. Riley thought it could be Jessica, but the voice was different.

She tried to nod, but someone held her neck still. "Try not to talk- there's something up with your neck," someone else said- a man, with worry in his voice.

"Ok," she whispered, keeping her eyes closed.

The world went hazy after that. She couldn't see anything, even when she opened her eyes, and her throat didn't work right. Breathing was a chore, but she knew she couldn't stop, that something bad would happen if she did.

"I'm calling an ambulance," a metallic voice said.

Riley slowly let go of reality, her mind's grasp slipping. "Stay with us, Riley," someone ordered. "Help's coming."

She fought, but couldn't stop it, and slid into unconsciousness. The last thing she heard was "Riley! Keep awake!"


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry if it took me longer to update- starting school really took a toll on me. But here is this chapter, and while you read this I'm gonna go do some major renovations on the later chapters in this story.

Thank you so much for all the sweet reviews- you guys are the best!

Enjoy!

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She was tired- so tired.

But someone was talking, and she wanted to listen.

It was a guy speaking, she realized, with some trepidation. Not her dad.

Memories trickled in. Slowly, surely, she recalled what had happened.

There was a beeping sound near her. It was annoying. She wished it would stop.

The voice paused as the machine skipped a beat, then resumed.

Riley realized that her head and neck hurt. The headache was killer. There was something around her neck, keeping her from moving it.

Another voice halted the man's. "How... she?" the voice said- a woman's.

"...changed," the man said.

"Want..." the woman asked something.

"No. I'm ok."

"Ok." A door closed.

The voice resumed. "It was simpler, growing up. We got much more mail than anyone else does today. We didn't have any sophisticated tools. It was-"

"Nicer?" Riley asked, opening her eyes and almost immediately trying to shield them.

"You're up!" It was Steve Rogers. "It's been a few days." His eyes were shadowed as he stood up to turn the light down for her.

"What happened? The last thing I remember was falling..."

"You fell from a hundred feet up. Thor caught you last moment, but he caught you wrong and something happened with your neck. You fainted before the paramedics could get there."

"How long has it been?"

"Just a day or two-"

"What?! You were supposed to have left on Saturday night!" Riley tried to sit up, but Steve gestured for her to stop.

"We decided to give you a second chance. Tony realized that he had been a little hot headed and we've been trying to track you for the past week and a half. I didn't tell them I found you."

Riley smiled and sat up, hand going to her throat. "So I got whiplash from falling?"

"I don't know, but the medics looked pretty concerned about you. The rest of us were as well- Jessica was catatonic."

Riley laughed and nodded, hand going to her throat after a moment. "Ow."

"Want me to go get the others?"

"Go for it. On second thought..." Riley stood up unsteadily and smiled. "Why not surprise them?"

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The elevator doors opened with a ding, which the Avengers ignored for the most part. Riley smirked at Steve.

"You ok?" he mouthed.

"Yeah," she mouthed back.

"Now?" he murmured.

"Hey, slowpokes, why aren't you getting a move on? We got a Tesseract to find!" Riley yelled.

Jessica had her arms around her best friend before the rest could register. "Riley!" she screamed, jumping up and down with her as the others came over to see her.

Riley laughed and hugged her sister tightly. "I missed you," she said happily.

Jessica drew back and smiled brightly at her. "You're ok?"

"Better at least. 80 out of 100%, definitely. Closely approaching 95."

"Sorry bout that-" Tony said sheepishly.

"No," Riley cut him off. "I should have told you. My apologies." She gave him a half smile, arm still draped over Jessica's shoulder.

"It's in the past. We have a Tesseract to find. You know how to find it?" Natasha asked Riley.

"Yeah. It's a little link that I can follow when I need to. Plus it gave me the entire layout of the building it's hidden in. Paper?"

She sat down at the coffee table and began sketching, slowly, lines crooked. She frowned at it and said, "I was never great at drawing. Never mind, I'll get through it."

Slowly, the layout of the building took shape. "It's really recognizable because there are two towers, one on each side. It's a really big rectangle. The Tesseract is being held in the basement, under lots of guards. There are scientists examining it practically all the time. The best thing we could do is get in there disguised as guards and have Banner go in as a scientist to remove it."

"Or we can destroy the base from the inside out," Jessica said.

"Or we can do that, though I wouldn't suggest that. There are captives being held, from what it told me. It sensed life forces that were there against their will."

"Now you see what the Tesseract can do?" a familiar voice said.

"Loki. So nice of you to come and crash the party," Clint said dryly.

"And to answer your question, there is a rather large difference in what you did and what I'm doing. You forced it upon people. I accepted it and confined it." Riley turned back to the plans. "But we need to move. All the intel I've been getting suggests that they're moving it soon. We need to get it fast before I'm out of range and we lose it."

"Alright. Suit up. We can leave at midnight," Steve said, standing up. "You'll be ok by then?" he whispered to Riley as she stood.

"110%. I'll be fine, Steve," she murmured. "But it's sweet of you to worry."

"Awwww, isn't that cute?" Jessica teased.

"Shut up before I make you," Riley said, brushing past her on her way to her room.

A bag landed in her hands solidly. She looked up, startled, as Natasha stood in front of her.

"We found this at that tree you like at Central Park. I assume it's important."

Riley nodded. "Thank you." She opened the bag and pulled a pair of gray gloves on, with the fingertips missing. Her broadsword came out and slid onto her back. Next came a chestplate, then leg coverings.

"I got you a set as well, Garde. The whole nine yards."

"Where'd you get them?"

Riley smirked. "I stole them from Tony."

"So THAT'S where they went!" he shouted from the corner of the room.

"And how'd you know about my name?"

"Because we planned it together. Shire, remember?"

"Oh yes."

"What are you two speaking of?" Thor asked.

"Our names. We decided a while ago that I would be Shire, if we were ever superheroes, and she would be Garde. It's always been with us."

"Alright, Princesses, get your a**** moving," Tony said, only for to get a sharp rap in the back of the head. "OW!"

"Do not swear around us or at us," Riley deadpanned, walking away from him easily.

"Cuz we can kick your butt!" Jessica hollered as they linked arms and took the stairs.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey again! I have to say, I was really sad about the lack of reviews on the last chapter. Only one anonymous review? That made me sad- buuuuut it also gave me an idea.

I have a great many oneshots floating around- both in my head and on paper- for Alternate. I will begin posting them separately in another story on 1 condition.

I need to reach 40 reviews before I post the first one.

Seems fair, I hope. It certainly isn't unattainable. And they're quite funny.

In any event, ENJOY this chapter, and please take a few moments to review.

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Night fell and they were out of there in two borrowed quinjets. Natasha drove one, Clint the other, and all the Avengers- minus Tony, plus Loki- were split evenly between the two.

Riley sat down in the copilot's seat and yanked her helmet on. "The mic working?" she asked.

"Clear. Good to go," Clint's static voice rang in her ears. "Where to?"

"Get to Mexico City. It's south of it," Riley said, settling into her chair.

"Does this thing have supersonic on it? Because otherwise I'm gonna take a nap," Jessica complained through her comm.

"Go for it. It'll take a bit. I'll wake you when we're thirty minutes out," Riley said.

"Great," Jessica said, and crashed.

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Riley rudely woke Jessica by fiddling with the comm so only hers connected to Riley's. She then hollered, "WAKE UP! THIRTY MINUTES TO TOUCHDOWN!"

Jessica shrieked and sat straight up, glaring at Riley, who had flipped her comm link back to normal and was laughing hard.

"Is this typical?" Natasha asked rhetorically.

"Oh yeah."

The quinjets landed about five minutes away from the facility. Captain America laid out the plans and Riley nodded at each play.

"Should work. If it doesn't..." she paused. "See ya on the other side."

They separated into teams and slid past the fence. Clint entered the air vents with Natasha on his heels, as Riley pressed a hand to the door and pushed lightly. It slid open and she held a finger to her lips as she snuck up behind and killed a guard.

"How-?" Captain America whispered.

"The Tesseract overrode the security systems. It seems to be partially sentient," Riley murmured. Her left eye glowed blue, right hazel, as she glanced at the team and slid down the hall to an intersection.

Jessica and her team of Loki and Thor split off there. Riley kept Captain America and Bruce close behind her as they slipped straight and made it to the stairwell.

Here Riley paused, finger to her lips. "Guards. Two of them on the bottom floor," she murmured, looking down. "Hawkeye, if you get the chance..."

"On it," he muttered. They dropped seconds later, arrows in the back.

"Let's be quick about this," Riley said quickly, sprinting across the empty lab as the door opened. "I want to be out of here ASAP."

"Mission is going well. Everything seems normal- no one suspicious," Jessica reported in.

"Remember, the final cell has a few people. Use your judgement- if they're drug cartel members, leave 'em. Innocents-"

"Yeah, yeah. Lead 'em out."

Riley paused behind a table to count guards. "Fifteen- there are five more spread out. Look sharp, be careful," she muttered, barely loud enough for the mic to pick up.

"Found two- dead as stones," Bruce whispered.

"My kills," Hawkeye said.

"One more to your immediate right- he's about to pass your hiding place," Captain America whispered immediately.

Riley hunkered down and waited as he passed.

"Safe?"

"Barely," she breathed. "Bit close for comfort."

She scanned the area again. "Take that guy down if he gets close to you. Be on the lookout for two more. Iron Man, how's the outdoor guard takedown going?"

"Got seven kills. They may be starting to get suspicious," Tony said.

"Oh great. Slow down on the head count."

A guard spoke to someone next to him and stepped away from the cage. "One guard leaving, probably to look for the others. Be careful, he's heading in your general direction, Bruce."

"He's past me and into the- ehm..."

"Lock him in without being seen," Riley said swiftly.

"Done."

"Good."

"We are in position. Ready when you are," Jessica reported.

"And strike begins in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... ATTACK!" Riley yelled, and launched herself forward, sword drawn, to behead two guards in one fell swoop.

This, of course, caught the other guard's attention, and they came at her with their guns out. Riley anticipated their shots and took legs and arms out as she made her way to the Tesseract.

It wasn't as well protected as she would have suspected. The small cube was suspended in a small tube, that Riley easily broke into and shook the Tesseract into the containment device Bruce had created.

A corner broke away and landed on the ground. Riley gasped and reached out a hand to pick it up.

As soon as her left hand closed around it, it flared brightly and dissolved. The Tesseract's mental voice explained how to use the gift and pointed out one fight that wasn't going well across the room.

Five guards had teamed up on Captain America and were making his life difficult. Riley growled, turned her left side to the battle, and extended her fist, palm down.

Blue streams spiralled down her arm from her shoulder and coated her hand in a glowing blue mitt. Riley extended her fingers, and the Tesseract's power flew into two of the guards, taking them down immediately,

"Dr. Banner! The cube is contained. We're just waiting for you and Jessica to clear the area before we blow this place sky-high," Riley said. She stored the new weapon in her mind to test later.

She tracked the doctor's figure as it snuck to the Tesseract and picked up the device, slipped out the door, and caught an escort ride with Jessica and the released prisoners. Riley found a few more guards and dealt with them, then called, "Start planting bombs. We're gonna get out of here."

She opened the bag and placed the plastic explosives on the table, setting the timer for five minutes. "Let's go," she said to Steve, gesturing for him to go. He held the door open as she locked it from the inside and closed it behind them.

They moved swiftly through the facility, placing bombs and killing guards as they went. Finally, as they placed the tenth and final bomb, Riley said, "That's it. One minute left. Let's get out of here."

They ran towards the exit, suddenly halting as Riley whispered, "They have us cut off. One small army between us and the outside."

"Shnikes," Jessica whispered. "Need help?"

"Gonna have to go through a window," she murmured. "Thirty seconds left!"

"Hurry!"

Together the two ran down the hall towards the window, just as five guards intercepted them.

Riley cut two off at the waist and blasted another with Tesseract energy, only glancing at her watch. "T-minus ten..." she whispered. "We're trying!"

Captain America deflected bullets into the men and pulled Riley along. "Three- two-"

They went through the window as the bombs detonated.

Riley rolled away from the inferno and came to her knees, coughing. She realized that Captain America wasn't right behind her and got to her feet, shouting, "Rogers! Can you hear me?" into her comm link.

Silence.

She swore and ran towards the blazing building, skirting around. There- a red and white beacon.

"Shield me," she murmured to the Tesseract, and ran into the flames.

He was unconscious as she skidded up next to him and knelt to pull his arm over her shoulder. Slowly, she stood up, grabbed his shield, and trudged away from the fire.

Jessica, Bruce, and Clint were there to help her as she coughed from smoke inhalation. "Is he ok?" she asked between coughs, wiping her streaming eyes.

"We aren't sure yet. SHIELD has medics on the way."

"How are you?" Jessica asked.

"I'm ok." She looked at her left hand and shook it slightly. The chip of Tesseract fell into her right hand and she looked at Bruce.

"The Tesseract gave me something," she said. "I'd like to return it."

He opened the cage and she dropped the corner in. The Tesseract glowed brighter and became whole once again as she looked at it.

Iron Man landed behind them. "How'd it go? Rogers ok?" he asked.

"We don't know yet, but the building's gone, isn't it?" Riley said tiredly. "Where are the prisoners?"

"Nat's with them. Few political prisoners, couple of scientists, and a few hostages. Those were in the separate cell."

"Ok. How many?"

"Between fifteen and twenty. Most older, three kids, a few young adults."

"Those monsters," whispered Riley. "Kids are never supposed to be involved in war."

"You're a kid," Tony pointed out, sliding his face shield up.

"Actually, I'm 22. Not exactly a kid. And Jessica is too."

"Go check on your guy, then." Tony waved his hand dismissively and Riley flipped him off as she walked away.

SHIELD's quinjet arrived and loaded the prisoners and Steve aboard. The other Avengers took their own quinjets back, which Loki had been tasked with guarding.

"I'm gonna take a nap," Riley said. She yawned and stretched out silently, staring out a window as they flew back. Slowly, she fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Kind of a filler chapter today, but I thought I'd post in honor of GETTING MY VERY OWN EDITION OF THE AVENGERS ON BLU-RAY! *huff huff* Glad to finally get that off my chest.

So yes. Only 2 reviews again. At this rate I won't get to show you all my oneshots that I have! *sad face* So please review. Remember- target number is 40.

Enjoy this chapter!

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She woke up in her own bed, with Jessica snoring in her own. Slowly Riley swung out of bed and went into the shower.

Almost a half hour later, she came back out and pulled on some sweatpants and a tank top. Her hair was back in a messy braid as she went and began working on some food.

Jessica stumbled in an hour later, as Riley was cleaning her armor. "Hey," she said with a yawn. "How're you?"

"Ok. How late did we get back last night?"

"Late. Like 2 in the morning."

"Any major injuries?"

"One kid got his retinas burned because he was looking at the building when it went up. Minor cuts and bruises, otherwise."

"How's Steve?"

"He's... Riley, he's..."

Her heart just about stopped.

"He's not dead!" Jessica said hastily, seeing the look on her best friend's face. "Just... in a coma."

Riley set down her wrist guards and sighed. "Is he here?"

"Yeah. He's breathing on his own, but he got burnt pretty badly and something fell on his legs. A beam, was what the medics said."

"Ok. Are..."

"You can go see him. He's pretty wrapped up, though."

Riley nodded and covered her armor back up, before making her way to the elevator.

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She slid, unnoticed, into the hospital floor. There was a steady beeping that she recognized as a heart monitor. Nurses and doctors moved around the room swiftly, speaking medical jargon that Riley didn't even try to understand.

She sat down, cross-legged, in a secluded corner of the hospital floor, and waited for everyone to go to sleep or leave, so she could sneak past and see Steve. It never occurred to her to just ask as night fell and slowly the staff drifted away.

Finally a nurse locked up at two in the morning and left. Riley waited as the door clicked shut and stood silently, stretching her sore muscles.

She drifted to the curtained-off area and stopped, hand almost touching the curtain. Silently she steeled herself- and pushed the curtain aside.

Steve was lying in the hospital bed, looking like he could be asleep. He was bandaged up all over, and Riley self-consciously put her hand over her now-scarred left hand. The Tesseract shard left her with a small pyramidal scar on her palm, and she was doing her best to keep her marking from becoming known.

His shield was propped up against the bed, as if he had just lain down to take a nap and would soon get up to keep fighting. There was a chair next to his bed, and Riley settled into it.

She picked up the shield and touched the bullet marks gently. She rubbed the soot out with her finger and wiped it on her pants.

"Hi, Steve," she whispered softly. "I know you probably can't hear me, so I'll keep this short, cuz I don't know what listening devices Tony has around here."

She smiled a bit and touched the star on his shield. "Thank you. For being there for me when everyone turned their backs on me. And being accepting of our story, and for putting up with Jess's stupid jokes about me and you."

Riley looked over at him and hesitantly placed her hand on his. "I won't ever doubt that you'll wake. Be it in a day, or a week, or a month or a year or even another 70 years. I hope I'll be there, but if I'm not... I'm sorry."

Riley placed the shield down on the ground again and walked to the air vent. She unscrewed the grate, pulled it down, and jumped up into it, rescrewing the vent behind her and climbing down to her level.

Jessica was on her computer as she entered. She looked up at Riley and closed her computer.

Riley sat down on her bed and bit her lip. She angrily swiped at her eyes, doing her best to keep from crying.

"Hey, it's gonna be ok," Jessica said softly, moving to sit next to her and wrapping her arms around her.

"How do you know that?" Riley asked, grabbing for a tissue.

"It always turns out ok in the end, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, you're right. I hope so, at least." Riley blew her nose and tossed the tissue into the trashcan. "When did you become the philosopher?"

"When you got too weepy to be it," Jessica said. "Want to play?'

Riley smiled and nodded, pulling out her computer. "And Jessica?"

"Yeah?"

"The Tesseract is gone now."

Jessica stayed silent, before saying, "I'm glad you're ok."

"Me too. Now- I challenge thee to a game of Spleef!"

"Oh, you are SO on!"


	12. BONUS Chapter 12

Kay, that was too much of a filler chapter. So you get TWO chapters! Feel special.

Please review!

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Riley visited Central Park a lot more often in that next week.

Steve was still healing as she skated through the park, often with headphones in, ignoring the world. Her favorite hangout was the fountain he had met her at when she was still a fugitive.

Riley loved to just go and sit for hours, until night fell and she needed to go home. Every night she checked on Steve to make sure nothing had changed before she went to bed.

Some of her more restless nights, when she had nightmares that he was dead, she would go and sit by him and sing, tell him about her own life, and sometimes, on the worst nights, just sit silently.

It took her three weeks to work up the courage to slip her hand into his unmoving one. It was comforting, to feel that warmth and know that he was still there- just not awake.

On week four, the Avengers got yet another call.

They assembled in a large room a few floors above the main living quarters. Nick Fury arrived with Natasha and Clint. Bruce and Jessica came in next, talking about the Tesseract, and finally Tony slid in- fashionably late as always.

It didn't go unnoticed that two chairs, one to the right of Jessica and the other directly next to it- were empty.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I've called you all here," Fury said.

The door to the elevator slid open. Riley entered, wearing an all white robe that covered her face. The robe was split open to reveal her armor and a red tanktop, with black leggings and black combat boots. Her sword was at her waist, and her hood was back, revealing a determined face.

"Riley! I thought you were out!" Jessica cried in happiness.

"I was until about ten minutes ago, when Jarvis told me to get my butt back to Avenger's Tower or I was gonna miss out on another mission," she said as she walked swiftly to her place at the table and sat.

"I thought you were still technically 'in mourning'."

"Sweetheart... I am NOT Bella Swan. I am not going to spend more than a week crying over a lost friend."

"You've been down for four weeks!" Tony protested.

"Or have I? I've been busy. Where do you think I got this outfit? Aeropostale, American Eagle, Anthropologie? Nah. Had to sew it myself. And it took a full 2 WEEKS."

"It looks good."

"Can it withstand combat, however?"

"That was another thing I was testing. It should deflect most small knives and potions, though against bullets, swords, and arrows it doesn't really work. That's where the armor comes in. If a weapon has made it to my flesh by then- well, I shoulda paid more attention. Now what's this mission all about?"

"Hostage rescue," Fury said tightly. He tossed a folder down onto the table and turned on the projector with the flick of a button. "It's a small drug cartel in Argentina. They've taken several high-ranking officials' family members as 'insurance' against a vote to increase police presence in the cities."

"What does the compound look like?" Natasha asked.

Fury flipped to the next slide. "This." He tapped the screen and moved to the holograph projector on the table. "Main entrance is in the north corner, facing this field. It's almost impossible to get in through it. There are smaller side entrances and exits spread throughout the compound. I also have reason to believe there are secret tunnels. Your goal is to successfully retrieve the hostages, destroy any drugs in the compound, and kill any person who sees you besides the hostages- UNOFFICIALLY, mind. Are we clear?"

"What kind of numbers are we looking at?" Clint asked from his post beside Natasha at the end of the table.

"Between 30 and 55. It's a medium operation."

"When are we shipping out?" Tony asked.

"As soon as this meeting is over. The quinjet will fly you down, wait in a field a few miles away, and pick you up when it's over."

"Are we all going?"

"I'll stay," Banner volunteered quickly. "Someone's gotta stay with Loki... and Steve."

There was a brief moment of silence for their fallen comrade, then Riley shoved her chair back and said, "Let's move!"

They boarded and endured the long plane ride to Argentina. The plane landed and they took the chance to stretch their muscles out before running for the compound.

No guards were posted- very sloppy, in Riley's opinion. She looked around carefully and shook her head furiously as Tony powered up to blast open a door.

She backed up, took a running start, and sprang off the ground lightly. She counter bad guys absentmindedly as she fell and reported quickly, "Seventeen in the yard. Fight begins now."

She landed hard on the backs of two cartel members. They went down silently, being in an isolated corner of the compound and not expecting trouble. Riley went through the pockets of both men quickly, found the keys, and let the Avengers in swiftly.

"I'll head for the upper floors. I want Shire on the courtyard, Hawkeye and Ironman in the air, Garde on locating the hostages, and Thor as a guard for her," Natasha ordered. Riley nodded and waited for a guard to walk past, then grabbed him and dragged him back behind a large tractor, where she slit his throat.

Ironman dropped Hawkeye into a large tree in the middle of the compound. Riley found a few old cars and some empty beer bottles and got a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Two minutes later, she had five Molotov cocktails ready to be lit and thrown. "I can get you your distraction in three- two-"

Riley lit a flare and threw it at the wall of the house. Four guards gathered together to examine the offending object and discuss whether or not to take it to the boss, when Riley lit and threw the first Molotov cocktail.

"Go!" she hissed, sprinting into the open and engaging 2 guards at once. Hawkeye was taking them down, mostly via explosive and poision arrows, Ironman was just blowing up cars and people- mostly for the fun of it.

"We are in. Upper floors cleared. Garde, report," the Black Widow said professionally.

"No problems so far. Just a few guards," she said. "One floor down and I'll have the hostages. I'm getting a bit worried- it just seems a bit too easy."

"I don't blame you at all. These guys are just new recruits- far too expendable. I think there's something wrong with this place."

The comm waves were silent for a few more minutes before there was a sudden shout from Jessica. "It's a trap! The hostages are dead! Repeat, this is a trap! Get out of this place!"

"Mission aborted! New mission- get out alive!"

Riley snarled as some barrack doors opened and threw another cocktail to land on the doorsteps. "It's a trap alright- the real fighters were holed up in the barracks." She attacked the men viciously, using all her abilities to the fullest extent as she fought.

Ironman was still in the sky as she took a brief glance around. Hawkeye reported, "Half-quiver left," as Jessica and Thor sprinted out of the main building, a dozen men apiece on their tails. Natasha leapt off the roof and rolled to a standing position.

"Let's finish this!" Riley shouted and drew her sword from its sheath. Power flowed through her veins as she attacked, swiping enemies aside with every blow.

Someone got her from behind and lifted her off the ground. She swore and dug her elbow back into his stomach, following it up with a foot to the groin. The man gave a sharp whimper and released her. She turned around and stabbed him through the heart.

"Calling the quinjet! Mission failed!" Clint called over the comm. Riley nodded briefly and focused all her attention on the enemy.

"We're getting pressed back," Natasha warned, as a loud chopper sounded overhead.

Riley leapt out of the way of a man and stabbed him. He hadn't hit the ground and she was cutting through his buddy.

"I'm out, repeat, I am out of arrows," Clint said quickly. Riley swore.

"If we can get to the north entrance, the quinjet's in the field-" they were cut off by an explosion. "- ah, no longer. It's been great working with you guys," Tony said dryly. "I'm almost out of missiles."

Riley yanked out a gun from God-knows-where and began mowing them down. The slide popped back and she tossed it to the side.

"Y'know, guns and lazers and sabers are great and all, but sometimes you just gotta go Medieval on someone's a**," she said, yanking out two broadswords and scissor-cutting a bad guy's middle.

"I'm getting tired," Jessica said. It was very clear in her voice.

"Me too. I wish Bruce, Steve, and- even Loki had come," Riley said.

Thor slammed his hammer down onto the ground. Everyone, including the good guys, were knocked down.

Riley struggled to her feet, only to fall to her knees, exhausted. "I'm done, guys," she whispered.

"Do not give up on us, Riley Star," a familiar voice warned.

She shot to her feet, looking around wildly. "What- where are you?"

"Here."

She gasped and sprinted forwards as fast her legs would carry her. Her super soldier caught her and spun her around gently.

"You're alive!" she shouted happily, laughing away the tears.

"Of course. Let's get outta here, guys," he said clearly into the comm.

The others struggled to their feet and followed him to the new quinjet, hovering just a bit over the remains of the ruined quinjet. Steve clipped Riley into the sling to take her up and tugged lightly on the line. She moved up quickly, and a medic took over, fussing over her many cuts and bruises.

The adrenaline wore off as she sat down and got bandaged up, sighing as the medicine seeped through her veins. The others took seats around the quinjet, and Riley watched as Bruce came over to her.

"No bullet holes anywhere, right?"

"Don't think so." Riley examined her hands and legs, pausing as she came to her lower right leg. "Ah... actually..."

He dropped down and examined the perfectly round hole in her leg very carefully. "Can you feel this?" he asked and gently pinched her foot.

"Ow- yeah- ah!"

"Adrenaline has worn off," he murmured. "Try to keep from moving it. The bullet went straight through, so that's one less thing to worry about. You're gonna need a cast, more than likely, and we're gonna need to sterilize it too."

Riley nodded.

Steve came over and sat down next to her. "Are you ok?"

"Been better. How are you?"

"I'm fine."

Riley turned herself carefully and hugged him tightly. He returned the hug and rested his head on hers.

"I'm glad you're ok."

"Comparatively," she corrected. He looked at her with a brief question in his eyes and she pointed at her leg.

He leaned over and took a better look, sitting upright with a hiss. "That's not good. Did you even feel when it hit?"

"Nope. It could've happened at the beginning and I didn't even notice. When did you wake up?"

"When the quinjet was taking off of the tower. Bruce heard me and came to check on me. He told me you vanished for a while."

"Yeah. I moped around for a week, then decided that I needed a better fighting outfit and got to it. This-" she gestured to her torn up, scratched, and bloody outfit. "It looked better when it was new."

He laughed.

She leaned onto his shoulder and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, a medic was shaking her awake. "We got a stretcher for you," he said quietly, pointing to the back of the quinjet. They were on the Helicarrier.

Riley rose to her feet unsteadily. Steve steadied her and helped her walk off the plane and sit on the stretcher.

"Just lay down and try not to stress out," the medic told her, strapping her leg in. She smiled at Steve and waved to him as she was wheeled off to the hospital wing.


	13. Chapter 13

Hello once again! SUPER LONG CHAPTER. I do hope this constitutes five more reviews for the first one-shot to be posted!

I am also pleased to announce that I've written another story off of an event that hasn't happened yet (speaking of time-travelling, anyone see Angels Take Manhattan? CRIED LIKE A LITTLE GIRL. Who's with me?). Have I mentioned that I'm going as Captain America for Halloween? Non? Well I am. So that should give ya a hint. ;)

Enjoy and review please!

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They were back in Avenger's Tower by the end of the week. Riley had a cast on her leg and Natasha occasionally winced when raising her left arm, having caught a knife with her shoulder. Clint had fallen out of the tree and had a slight limp, Tony still smelled faintly of smoke if one got close enough, and Jessica's arm was in a sling.

Their first night back, Riley slid the cast off her leg before she went to bed and examined the wound. It was almost fully healed, which had all the medics in a tizzy, saying that no wound could heal that fast. Riley knew who was to thank for her abnormal recovery and watched as a faint blue light fully healed it, leaving only the lightest scar.

She was up early the next morning.

Not that she hadn't gotten up early when Steve was in a coma. She had a legitimate reason for waking up at oh-dark-thirty, this time- not just nightmares.

Somewhere above her, something fell to the floor with a 'thud'.

Riley sighed and sat up. Jessica wasn't in her bed, she noticed silently, as she stood and pulled on her sleep pants over her shorts. She grabbed her blue blanket and walked to the door, closing it behind her.

"Jarvis? Steve's awake, isn't he?"

"Yes, Ms. Star. He is awake."

"His floor please?" she asked as she stepped into the elevator.

The doors closed and she rose only a few floors before the doors opened again. Riley stepped out and paused, looking around.

There was a long hallway reaching out before her. Riley glanced around quickly, listening silently. There- a sound she remembered from the movie.

She passed two doors, opening the third, only to blush and close it swiftly. No need to be looking in his bedroom, when he was in the next room over.

The door opened onto a smaller gym than the main one. The walls were concrete bricks, painted a dull grey with a single blue stripe along the wall. There was a small boxing ring, a line of punching bags on the floor, and- in the middle of the room- was the bare back of a tall man, whaling on a punching bag as hard as he could.

Riley walked forward slowly, making sure she wouldn't startle him, not knowing what would happen if she did. He was lost in memories as she stepped forward.

Finally, at a break in the punching, she spoke up.

"Did you get any sleep?"

Steve started and turned around to look at her. He laughed and shook his head a little. "No. Not much. You?"

"More than I've gotten in a while. It was easier to sleep than I expected." Riley smiled and walked to stand next to him. "How long have you been at it?"

"Only three punching bags down," he said grimly.

She tried not to look at his bare chest and passed him her blanket. He draped it over his shoulders and nodded his thanks.

"Why couldn't you sleep?"

"Memories. Plenty of them."

"Chitauri?"

He shook his head. Riley's questioning expression softened.

"Ah."

She took his hand and towed him over to the edge of the boxing ring, where she made him sit and sat beside him. "Tell me about your life after the serum. The movie showed a British agent named Peggy, but I wanted to know what she was really like."

Steve was silent. Riley was starting to worry when he said, "She was amazing."

Riley nodded silently.

"Never let me get away with me pitying myself. She was something else."

Her heart dropped, silently. *I asked, I should've been prepared for this. He never got over her, did he?*

"She was pretty. Kind of short curly brown hair. Dark brown eyes. She was tall, a British agent in the war."

Riley couldn't help but match herself up to the description. She didn't have short, curly brown hair. It was almost the exact opposite- long straight dirty blonde/brown hair. And her eyes were fully hazel, with a hint of gray on some days. Not the brown he described with so much love. Riley was tall for her age, but she was most certainly not British.

"Hey." His clear voice brought her back as he rested a hand on hers. "You ok?"

"Yeah," she said with a bit of difficulty. The question would hurt, the answer probably more so, but she pressed on. "Did you… like her? As more than a friend?"

Steve paused to consider her words as she waited, heart pounding.

"Yes. At one time."

Her heart fell through the floor as her head dropped even more. She drew her hand out from under his own and placed it in her lap, playing with the fabric of her pants.

"But I wasn't finished."

Riley looked up at him in curiosity.

"She was beautiful, but when I woke up and found that I wasn't even in the same millennia as I had gone to sleep in… I have to move on. She was brilliant, and pretty, and amazing at defending herself, but you- you are something else."

Riley laughed, her voice sounding bitter to her own ears. "I've been told that a time or two."

"Hear me out." He sounded so determined she couldn't help but listen.

"When I first saw you I couldn't believe it. You were the entire reason that SHIELD had been on high alert for almost a week? Impossible. You were so innocent when you grabbed Jessica's shoe that I couldn't help but wonder why you were so high up on their most wanted list.

"I wish I had gone to get you in Paris, but someone had to stay behind and help Banner. He was having a bad day so I had to leave soon after we arrived. When you saw me, you looked like you knew everything that was going on. You even knew when to turn to get to the meeting room. When I saw that video clip with you wearing that tee shirt, I was shocked, but also thought you loved Captain America- not Steve Rogers."

Riley smiled at him. "That's where I felt like I was a little different from everyone else- all the other girls who wanted someone just like Captain America to sweep them off their feet. They wanted a superhero. I wanted the man behind the mask."

Steve smiled at her and nodded. "Then, when I began getting to know you, you were so knowledgeable about everything in this time, yet so shy about explaining, that I couldn't help but think it cute. That first demonstration of your power had me shocked- that you had so much power in such a small girl. And I can't even begin to describe how upset I was when your eye turned blue."

Riley put her finger to her lips and said, "My turn." She paused. "When I realized who you were my heart just about soared. I couldn't believe that we could be in the Marvel universe. And when you saw the shirt, I thought I would die from embarrassment. Jessica wants the best, she really does, but she can be a bit… pushy at times.

"You, though- you were everything I imagined. A sweet, slightly shy gentleman, who looked out for the girls and the young. Every girl wants

a hero, but I got lucky. I found mine." She leaned her head on his shoulder, and they just sat in silence for a few minutes.

Riley finally asked, "Want to go get coffee? It's four anyways."

He smiled. "Sure."

They stood up and Riley followed Steve down the hall. He turned into his room as she continued on to call the elevator.

She stood around and waited patiently as the elevator arrived. Steve came out of his room a minute later with a grey shirt on and handed her blanket back to her. She smiled at him and whispered "Thanks" as they got in the elevator and shot upwards to the main lounge. Riley buried her head in the blanket, rubbing her eyes as she sniffed the blanket. It smelled like apples.

The doors opened just as they heard someone say in a booming voice, "This drink! I like it!"

Riley winced as she waited for what was coming.

"ANOTHER!" Thor shouted and slammed his mug on the table. It shattered, and shards flew everywhere, including at Riley and Steve. Riley yelped and shielded her face with the blanket. Steve also blocked

her, sighing at the Asgardian's cluelessness of Midgardian traditions- including ask nicely when you want another.

Jessica and Loki were both facepalming. They had evidently been enjoying some late night/early morning coffee when Thor had joined them. Riley guessed that all civil conversation had been disrupted when he arrived.

Jessica looked down at the shards with distaste. "I am SO not cleaning that up."

"Find another mug, Hammertime, I'll get you another cup." Riley wrapped the blanket firmly around her shoulders and walked to the kitchen.

Thor followed her and found mugs for all three of them. Riley swiftly figured out the coffee machine, put the grounds and water in, hit the start button, and stuck Thor's cup under the sprout. A steady stream of dark liquid flowed into the cup, and Riley switched out cups when Thor's was close to overflowing. He took it from her and drained half the cup in one gulp. Now she knew how he liked his coffee- black as night and blazing hot.

Steve's mug was next. He took it from her with a murmured "Thank you" and dumped a few packets of sugar in. Riley finished hers and found the cream and sugar. Two full sugar cubes and a small cup of milk later, Riley took a sip and sat down at the couch, legs drawn up to her chest.

"Why are you up so early?" Riley asked Jessica.

"Never went to sleep. Odin wanted Loki to go to an all mortal universe, so when we do eventually get back he wants to know what to expect."

"Told him all about the fangirls?"

"Oh yeah."

"Still want to go?"

"He didn't want to go in the first place, genius." Jessica snorted into her coffee and glanced at the three men sitting at the table. "Enough about my problems. What's up with that hunk of America over there?"

"Jessica, he has a name and it's Steve. It's going good. He woke me up on accident. A punching bag hit the wall kinda hard."

"Did you two kiss?" Jessica asked slyly.

"No."

She picked up the iPad and opened Cut the Rope once again, finding that there was a new level to download and perking up considerably.

They sat in dead silence for a while, drinking coffee and playing with the little green monster. The sun rose and Riley stood as it came up. Her legs almost gave out and she wobbled for a moment, before dumping her cup in the sink.

"Hey, Jess, I'm gonna go get dressed. Be back in a bit," she called carelessly over her shoulder. The elevator took her down to her room, where she took a flying leap onto the bed.

Silently she sat up and pulled her blanket and pillow to her. She wrapped both in her arms and buried her head in the items.

Stay or go? Go or stay? The mantra repeated over and over again. Her old home, or her new home. Her parents, or her powers. Everything she knew and loved or a new chance.

She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. It shouldn't be so hard- she didn't belong in this universe. She should just go home…

But she had Steve now. She had the Avengers to have her back. Jessica would have Loki if she went back. Steve wouldn't be able to make it back at home. She sighed again.

The door opened quietly. She looked up and smiled at Steve, who was leaning on the doorway.

"You ok?" he asked cautiously.

In that moment she made her decision.

"Yeah," she said. She placed the pillow back on the bed and folded the blanket as she said, "We can go to the place I hid out at for a while, if you want."

"Will you be ready to go?"

"If you leave, I'll be ready in five minutes."

Steve smiled at her and backed out of the doorway, closing the door behind him.

Riley smiled happily and went to find an outfit to wear.

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Riley stepped out into the garage, wearing jeans, a plain gray tee-shirt, and a black cotton jacket. She was wearing comfortable tennis shoes as she sprinted through the garage.

Steve was sitting comfortably on his bike, checking gauges and other stuff Riley didn't understand. He had that leather jacket that was so familiar in the two movies on, with jeans and a plaid shirt.

She smiled and called, "Ready to go?"

He looked up, startled, as Riley stopped next to him. "Yeah. Want to go on a ride as well?"

She grinned. "You bet!"

He started the bike as Riley swung up onto the bike behind him. "My dad would die if he heard I wasn't riding a bike with a helmet!" she whispered in his ear as she wrapped both arms around his middle.

"Do you want a helmet?"

Riley shook her head hurriedly. "Oh, no! I love going fast with no helmet!"

Steve smiled and turned on the engine. With a roar, they rolled out of the garage.

Riley pointed to take a right as they came out of the garage. The bike turned easily and they took off in a roar of speed.

Almost ten minutes later, Riley gestured for him to turn into a parking lot. They parked and Riley got off first, jumping up in down with glee.

"That was so fun!" she yelled happily.

Steve laughed as he pulled the keys out of the ignition and Riley took his free hand, dragging him along towards the subway station, ignoring his blush.

They rode the tram for a while, before Riley said, "Here's our stop," and hopped off the train. Steve followed her, but apparently wasn't fast enough, because she ran back, grabbed his hand, and pulled him along.

He didn't recognize the place as Riley pulled him along, but she knew where she was going. They went off the beaten path after a while and Riley slid into a bush, coming back out with a large backpack.

"Keep close, and watch out for poison ivy. I've killed a lot, but it aways comes back." She led the way through thick underbrush for a half-mile or so, before they came out on a small overlook of the Atlantic Ocean.

"Wow," he whispered.

Riley smiled. "This was my home, for those nights when I was on the run, and again when you were in a coma."

She walked over to a large, tamped-down area surrounded by stones and began setting up a fire. Steve hastened to help her, and in a short amount of time there was a merry fire going.

Riley pulled out a pack of marshmallows and graham crackers and hot chocolate packets and started setting up. "S'mores and hot chocolate?" she asked. "I have instant coffee too. I wouldn't suggest it, however."

Steve smiled and said, "Sounds good to me."

They made their s'mores and munched on them for a while. The water took longer to boil, so they sipped on that as the sun went down.

Steve settled down on a convenient log and Riley sat down next to him. The night grew colder and she shivered a bit. He pulled her closer and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

They sat that way for a while, before Riley whispered, "Tony said he's close to figuring out a way to send us back."

"Us?"

"Me, Jess, and Loki."

They fell into silence again, before Steve squeezed her shoulders a bit.

"I'm not going."

Steve pulled back to look at her. "Why? Your parents are there, your friends, your pets-"

She bit her lip and burst out, "But I can't just go back! My parents would deem me crazy and probably put me into counseling. Jessica would have Loki. Steve, you can't come back with me. What if the Avengers need you?"

"Riley, you should go back. It's the right thing to do."

"Drat you and your morals. I don't want them, I want you," she whispered, turning so she could bury her head in his shoulder.

"You just can't stay. Promise me you'll go back."

"Do you really want to get rid of me that badly?" she asked, hurt.

"No, but- Riley, they're your family!" he said in exasperation.

"The Avengers are my family now. I'm happy here."

"Promise me," he said firmly.

Riley caught and held his gaze, before finally sighing and nodding. "I promise."

"Then let's live each day like it's the last one together," he said softly, pulling her to her feet. "Let's go riding."


	14. Chapter 14

Hello again! Whew! Fall was here for about a week and then it was WINTER. I'm not going outside near as much anymore, which means that I probably will have more time to write.

That story I mentioned last chapter? I have the sequel started. It's possibly the darkest fan fiction I have ever written- darkest book, period. But it's good. Really good.

This chapter is rather sappy. Song mentioned is "Wanted" by Hunter Hayes. Super sweet and cute. FLUFF WARNING. But don't worry- action will be picking up in the next chapter.

Please enjoy and only four reviews before we hit 40!

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The next week a major setback occurred in the research. Thor threw in one detail about time that set Tony into a bit of a rage.

"WHY did you not mention TIME TRAVEL WAS A FACTOR AS WELL?!" he roared aloud in fury, flipping one of the tables.

Riley slid along the wall and stopped at the elevator. Thor held up both hands in a placating gesture, also universally known as the 'whoa bro' sign.

"Peace, man of iron. I remembered not until this moment."

"Because it's such an insignificant detail, we could send them back to be DINOSAUR FOOD for all we know!" Tony shouted.

The elevator opened and Riley swiftly stepped inside. The doors slid shut and she was quickly moving upwards.

The doors opened on the main lounge and she sighed heavily as she stepped into the room. Jessica wasn't sitting next to Loki as she normally did, but standing in front of Steve, talking animatedly with him.

Riley raised her eyebrow and walked forward swiftly. Jessica didn't see her coming and continued to talk.

"...and reading, and coffee, and occasionally dancing-" Riley smirked as she slapped Jessica in the back of the head.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, as Riley continued walking. Straight at Loki, sitting alone at the table, reading something.

"Hey!" she said, sitting down across from him with a smile.

He looked up at her with a surprised glance.

"What are you reading?"

"An intriguing book, about magic, several galaxies, and a dark and a light side."

"Ah. That is an excellent story. Jessica likes that, actually."

"Really?" His voice was frosty, but Riley pretended not to take the hint.

"Yep. And she likes texting a lot. And I mean a LOT."

"That's... interesting."

"And a few other things, but if you're going to ask her out, you need to know these things!" she prattled incesantly.

A muffled shriek from behind her made her grin and wink at him.

Jessica ran forwards and yanked her out of her chair. Riley rolled and grinned at the look on Jessica's face, before someone grabbed her arm and gently pulled her to her feet. She smiled at Steve as he asked, "Are you hurt?"

"Nope. Though my pride may be. What did she tell you exactly?"

"A few things that you liked." Steve shrugged. "Not much."

"Oh God," Riley groaned. "Not much could mean anywhere from 5 things to a hundred."

"Only a few. No need to worry."

They walked over to the couch and sat. They sat silently for just a moment, before Steve said, "Do you want to go out for coffee tonight? And maybe dancing?"

Riley turned to look at him with a little confused smile on her face. Steve blushed. "I- I mean Jessica said that you like both-"

"No, really. It's ok." Riley smiled and nodded. "I'd love to go out."

Steve smiled happily, seemingly thrilled with her answer. "Ok, then, um, what time do you want to meet and where?"

Riley bit her lip in thought. "How about... we meet at five? That should give us plenty of time."

Steve nodded. "Sounds good by me. Where do you want to go?"

"That little place we met Loki at?" she suggested. "It serves dinner too."

"Perfect." Steve grabbed the iPad off the table and said, "Cut the Rope?"

Riley laughed and nodded.

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At four Riley went down to her room to get ready. She experimented with hairstyles for a while, before deciding that the best way to go was with her hair down, and straight as well.

She found her nice shirt and jeans hanging in the closet, along with a piece of Jessica's jewelry that matched perfectly. She laughed and changed, taking a look at herself in the mirror.

At four fifty five she went up to the main lounge, where Steve met her. He was wearing one of his favorite plaid shirts and jeans as Riley walked forwards and hugged him. "You look very nice, Mr. Rogers," she said teasingly as she drew back.

"And the same applies to you, Miss Star," he replied. "Shall we go?"

She took the offered arm and waved to Jessica, who looked like she was going to squeal with glee at her set-up date as they left.

They headed down to the garage, where Steve swung onto the bike, Riley right behind them. They peeled out of the garage and took the long route to the restaurant.

They parked and walked up to the entrance, Steve getting ahead and opening the door for her. They found a table and sat down.

"What are you going to get?" Steve asked, peering over her menu.

"Um... a hamburger." Riley smiled at him as she set her menu down and took a sip of water.

"Same here." They ordered and chatted about little stuff while they waited for food to arrive.

After they ate Steve insisted on paying and they left. Riley asked, "Where are we going?"

Steve shrugged. "I don't know. Probably shoulda checked around, but..."

"Why not check out a few smaller dance clubs?" Riley suggested.

He brightened up and agreed, but as they scoped out possible places to go to, none came up.

Finally they conceded defeat and headed back to Avenger's Tower. Steve parked and Riley swung off, sliding her hand easily into his as they made their way to the elevator.

The main lounge was conspicuously empty as the elevator doors opened. Riley raised an eyebrow.

"Suspicious?"

"Definitely. Jessica set this up."

"Why do you say that?"

"Have you seen the lengths she will go to to get me together with a guy? It was worse in high school, believe it or not."

"There's a note on the iPad," Steve pointed out.

Riley pulled it off and read it aloud for Steve's benefit. "Found some old and new songs. Have fun!"

He scrolled through the songs and said, "Most of these were never good for dancing to, or I don't know them."

"May I see?" He passed her the iPad and she scrolled through the songs, pausing.

"How did she-"

"What?"

"This song. I loved it when it came out. It's called 'Wanted'. I thought it didn't exist in this universe... but it does..."

"Is it good to dance too?"

"Well..." Riley blushed. "More slow dancing than Charleston or anything."

Steve looked over her shoulder, then seemed to make up his mind and hit the song to play it. Startled, Riley turned to look at him, and he extended his hand.

"Might I have this dance?"

Riley nodded and took his hand.

It was awkward for her at first, because neither knew how to dance, but before long Riley forgot the usual dancing one-hand-on-waist and instead put her arms around his neck. Steve put both arms around her waist and they just swayed, listening to the music. The song lyrics made Riley think that someone could be watching them and writing the lyrics off of their own love story.

The second chorus came and Riley laid her head on his shoulder, perfectly content in her own fairytale. Steve pulled her closer, and they just paused and looked at each other for a moment as the bridge played. Silence fell for a moment, as they stared into each other's eyes, before simultaneously they drew together, and their lips met.

Riley couldn't hold her smile back as they drew away, linking her hands behind his head as the song began wrapping up. This night had been so perfect, she couldn't help but wonder if there was some divine intervention up in heaven. The last notes played and they just stood there for a moment, before Steve glanced at the clock.

"I'll escort you to your room, if you want me too?" he asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, that'd be fine," Riley said hastily, grabbing her bag off the couch and accompanying him to the elevator.

It dropped them down a few levels and the doors opened. Steve walked her down the hall to her room, where she stopped and turned to look at him.

"I... I had a great time. Thank you so much for everything," she said softly.

"I had a good time too. Maybe we could do this again?"

Riley nodded. "Well... I guess this is goodnight," she said softly.

"Goodnight, then," Steve said, watching her for a moment as she opened the door and stepped inside.

Before she could walk more than three steps away, the door opened behind her and someone tapped her shoulder.

Riley turned around and found herself unable to speak as Steve kissed her. She didn't hesitate to kiss him right back.

Finally they drew apart and Riley smiled. "That's goodnight," she said.

"And goodnight to you as well," Steve said, waving to her as she slid into her rooms. She peeked out and waved before the door shut for good. As she walked away, she heard a familiar tune being whistled, and couldn't help but smile.

(0)^_^(0)

"That was good," Tony said, sitting back in his chair.

Jessica was perched in her own chair next to him, staring at the security camera feed from Jarvis. "By the way, you owe me five bucks. I said they would kiss at that point in the music."

Clint grinned from his standing place against the opposite wall. "She knew. That was kinda obvious she guessed something was up."

"But did she know everything about us watching her? Nooooo. Told you it would work," Jessica retorted.

Natasha shook her head. "I still can't believe you did that. Total breach of privacy."

"Since when has Tony cared?" Bruce said.

"He hasn't."

Slowly they turned around to look at the doorway.

Riley was leaning on the doorframe, with a smirk on her face. She had changed before coming upstairs; instead of her pretty outfit, she had on sleep pants and a tee-shirt. Her hair was down in one long braid, and under her arm was a teddy bear. Steve was right behind her wearing sweatpants and a tee-shirt as well.

"Knew it!" Riley said in a singsong voice. "Told you it was a setup."

"Was not!" Jessica protested, sliding back to hide the recording icon.

"Was totally. Who made how much off of what?"

"We weren't betting! Not at all!"

Riley rolled her eyes. "Whatever. If I find out that you recorded everything, there'll be h*** to pay." She turned and walked out, with Steve laughing as he followed her.

"Ohs***- if she finds out-!"


	15. Chapter 15

Hello again! One review- disappointing. I did some major revisions on this chapter.

WARNING: MENTIONS OF TORTURE. Could possibly be a trigger.

First time I've ever had to put that at the beginning of a chapter...

CONTINUING!

There is at least one reference to an awesome TV series I've referenced before. Good luck!

Enjoy and please review! Remember- 40 reviews equals oneshots!

(0)^_^(0)

It had all been too good to last.

SHIELD called up the next day, to let them know there was a suspected terrorist group ready to destroy an entire city. They suited up as soon as they got the call and met on the Helicarrier.

Riley had repaired her armor and outfit and had her hood back as she entered the room. Her hair was tightly braided back so it couldn't get in the way during a fight. Her sword was strapped tightly to her side, with several knives hidden in various places. If she remembered rightly, she had almost forty hidden in various places on her body.

Jessica had done modifications as well. She had her grey matte armor on, of course, but under it she wore black tights/jeans and a tight fitting green-and-gold tee-shirt. She had a helmet under her arm, whereas Riley didn't have one. Jessica's sword was at her waist, easy to reach, but she also had a backup sword on her back and a shield strapped to her forearm.

"Why hello there, Lady Assassin. Where might you be going on this fine day?" Jessica said sarcastically.

Riley drew her hood up to cover her face. "To assassinate people; what else?"

The other Avengers entered the room. Riley kept silent and kept her hood up as she drifted to a seat and settled into it casually, keeping her posture wary and alert.

Tony pushed his face shield up and sauntered over to where Riley was sitting. Unable to see her face, he asked, "Hey babe, where'd you come from?"

Riley smirked. "Don't you remember me, Stark? And anyways, I have a guy and he wouldn't be pleased to know you're hitting on me." She rose and walked to Steve as he came in, kissing him full on as her hood fell back.

Tony backpedaled as the room erupted in laughter. "WHOA- sorry- didn't mean to-!"

"Relax. You just have to worry about Steve, not me."

"Enough with the antics! This is serious!" Fury shouted as he walked in. The Avengers fell silent, with a snigger or two from Clint and a soft giggle from Natasha.

"We got word from one of our agents recently that there is a scheduled terrorist attack on a major southern city. They are planning on setting off a dirty bomb in the heart of this city during an annual fair they have."

"How hard should it be to identify the men?" Natasha asked.

"It shouldn't be too hard. The people involved in the organization are normally seen wearing business suits, and the fair is a costumed affair. Their briefcases contain important information to getting the bomb defused."

"Get the briefcases, then find and defuse the bomb. Anything else we need to know?"

"Only that you should fit right in."

(0)^_^(0)

He wasn't kidding.

The city was brimming with Avenger wanna-bes. After the attack on New York, everyone wanted to be like the superheroes. There were a few people that looked like Jessica and Riley, surprisingly, because Riley looked so much like an Assassin from the popular game Assassin's Creed, and Jessica just looked like a Loki fangirl with a set of awesome armor.

The true Avengers soon discovered that the men were easy to pick out of a crowd. They looked like normal businessmen, carrying briefcases everywhere with them and almost constantly on the phone. The briefcases were all the same, which gave someone the idea to switch out briefcases with the men when they weren't looking. Unfortunately, they never put the cases down and were always within sight of another man.

Only one briefcase had been switched at the end of the week, and that was of a lower-level terrorist. He did have the coordinates to the place, so while Tony, Thor, Clint, and Natasha went to check out the site while Steve, Riley, Loki, Jessica and Bruce stayed behind.

While the other Avengers were gone, the girls linked arms and wandered around, looking at booths and watching the terrorists carefully. No one had gotten suspicious of them yet, but they both had hoods on their costumes, obscuring their faces.

They walked casually past one man, only to see that the briefcase was a few feet away from the man as he chatted with another terrorist. Riley glanced at Jessica and they sauntered over, casually replacing one briefcase with the fake.

Unfortunately they were caught.

"STOP!" one man shouted, pointing at them as they swiftly took off, obscuring the case from view. "They have our briefcase!"

Riley swore and broke into a sprint, tossing the briefcase under a stall as she ran to retrieve it later. They crisscrossed the fair, alerting the in-town Avengers that they may have been compromised. Something caught Riley's attention, and she shoved Jessica to the ground as bullets shot towards them.

The two girls took off sprinting again, with Jessica using superspeed to take one or two men down and Riley leaping out of trees and off tents to slice through two men. The bullets started missing them, and after one almost hit a civilian, they decided enough was enough and shouted for everyone to get down.

The other citydwellers were swift to respond, and soon enough only Riley, Jessica, and several men in suits were standing.

The girls hid behind a building, and silently watched as police arrived and tried to deal with the situations. They flipped the comms on and immediately alerted the other Avengers to what was going on.

"Police officer just got shot. He's down and his buddy is p*****."

"They all are," Steve said grimly. "I am as well."

"Don't do anything stupid, we have a bomb, and we're heading back," Clint ordered.

"Jessica," Riley whispered, "We need a better look to see how many there are. The Pandorica Opens."

"Wha-"

"You know how sometimes I have plans?" she said hastily.

"Yeah-" Steve said hesitantly.

"Sorry." Riley sprinted from behind the building and turned halfway to face the enemy. Her comm was filled with shouts, warnings, and furious reprimands as she lifted her hands and screamed, "LOOK AT ME! I'M A TARGET!"

Five bullets zinged over her head as she resumed running and skidded to a halt next to Jessica.

"That was a terrible plan!" Natasha said angrily.

"I said I had a plan, I didn't say it was brilliant!" she retorted. "There's about twenty, give or take, most have guns in the cases. They have a few people being held hostage. If we can get the hostages away from the men, we can open fire."

"How do you propose to get the hostages out of there?" Tony said.

Riley flipped her comm off and looked at Jessica. She followed suit and the two girls nodded solemnly at each other.

"To the end."

"Forever."

They slid around the corner and Jessica hollered, "HEY IDIOTS!" to catch their attention.

The men looked at them, some pulling their hostages up more. Riley sighed.

"Put down the hostages and take us," she ordered. "No one need get hurt."

"Give back the briefcase as well!" the ringleader shouted.

Riley went and grabbed the empty, decoy briefcase and held it out in front of her as they walked forwards. The hostages were shoved away and they surrounded the two girls, relieving them of all weapons. Fortunately the men were incompetent at searching and the girls kept most of their weaponry.

"Come with us," the head of the operation said, gesturing with his gun to the van.

"Do we have a choice?" Jessica said sarcastically.

The man fired a shot into the air. She quieted and they followed the men to the van.

Riley managed to turn on the tracker function in her headset by rubbing her head against her shoulder. Jessica had already had hers on, and the two girls looked at each other as the blacked-out van took off.

They drove for an hour, before they arrived at a warehouse. It was very dark inside as they led the girls in and sat them down on the floor, far away from each other, facing towards the other.

They bound their hands roughly with ropes and receded into the darkness, leaving the ringleader to interrogate them.

"So. Looks like we have some sacrificial lambs here," he said with a nasty smirk on his face.

"Yeah. So what?" Jessica said.

"You got two briefcases, I believe. Both were plants, by the way. I was expecting something like this to happen."

"S***," Riley muttered.

"Indeed. So you have been chasing your tails for a week and a half now."

"So there's someone inside SHIELD then?"

"Of course! There was actually no bomb at all. We were simply hoping for something like this to happen."

"What do you want?" Jessica snarled.

"Well, the Tesseract would be an excellent start. But I wouldn't say no to information about SHIELD either," the man said.

"I'll tell you when Hell freezes over," Riley snarled- only to be cut short as a gunshot went off and pain blossomed in her side.

"SHIRE!" Jessica shouted, looking terrified for her best friend.

Riley looked up at her. "Do not give in, Garde. No matter what happens. We are stronger than they are. We will win." Her eyes were glowing with an intense blue light. She tried to control her breathing and looked down to see a clean hole through her armor, low enough to not puncture a lung, but in the right spot to give her a lot of blood loss and pain.

The man laughed cruelly. "We've given your precious Avengers a ransom note, demanding the Tesseract in two days or you die. I do hope they will be prompt in paying up. Don't you?"

Riley lifted her chin, but it was Jessica who spoke up. "I would rather die than give you the satisfaction of knowing we lost and you won."

They both heard the man say, "Break them. Whatever you can do without killing them."

Riley closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable pain to begin. Just as it was about to start, her comm crackled to life.

"Riley? Jess?! Where are you? We're trying to track your location-"

"There's a spy- in SHIELD!" Riley hissed between clenched teeth. "Do you hear me?! Trust no one- AH!"

She couldn't contain the cry of agony as the blazing hot rod touched her arm. Jessica was undergoing the same treatment from another man.

"Riley? It's gonna be ok, you hear me?" Steve ordered.

"I know," she whispered softly. "I... I love you."

There was the briefest of pauses, before he said, "I love you too."

"What- They still have communicators in!" one of the torturers shouted, reaching out to grab the comm out of Jessica's ear.

"No... leave it in. Let their precious heroes hear what their sacrificial lambs are going through," the leader of the men said, voice filled with glee. "Go for it. Break them."

"Be careful!" Riley managed to say before she was crying with pain once again.

(0)^_^(0)

"Riley... Riley, wake up," a voice said, strong and calm.

Riley couldn't move anything. Everything hurt.

"Riley. Don't give up on me," the voice said.

'Don't give up on us...'

"Steve?"

There were a great many sighs of relief. "You're ok?" Jessica asked worriedly. "They were hard on both of us, but more on you than me."

"I... I'm ok," Riley said, shoving herself into a sitting position. Her arms were shaking terribly, and her mouth was parched. She worked a little bit of moisture into her mouth and spat; it came out bright red.

"BS," Jessica said with a shaky laugh. "You look terrible."

"Hello pot," Riley retorted tiredly. She looked down at herself and was sent reeling from the amount of blood on her clothes.

"Your bullet wound has closed up," Jessica said in relief. "That's good."

"I hope it's a good thing," Clint said warily. "We caught the spy. He gave us everything he knew before we... disposed of him."

"What all did he tell you?" Riley asked.

"That they might have dropped poison into your wounds. If you have an open bullet wound with a direct line to your heart or lungs, you could be in trouble," Bruce said, as calmly as he could.

"What?!" Riley asked, unable to keep fear from her voice.

"Hey, hey, hey, we're on our way to get you out of there," Steve said soothingly. "We might have the antidote."

Riley sighed and whispered, "Is it just me or am I really tired?"

"Tired- Stay awake!" Natasha snapped suddenly. "Blood loss could be making you... I suppose woozy is the best word for it. You could fall into a coma if you go to sleep now."

"Ok," Jessica said, concealing a yawn. "I don't know why they've left us alone..."

"It's two in the morning," Steve said. "They're probably all asleep."

"Ok... I'm really tired," Riley said again. Her eyelids were drooping as she leaned forward and jerked upright... leaned forward and jerked upright.

"Don't go to sleep. Understood?"

"I... I can't..." she whispered, as her head fell forward onto her chest. "I'm sorry..."

(0)^_^(0)

'Awaken...'

Riley stirred a little bit as a blue light entered her field of vision. But that made no sense... she was asleep... so tired...

'Awaken...'

She started to hear voices, talking.

"Is Jessica awake?"

"Yeah, she's good."

"Loki? What's- what's happening?"

"How's Riley doing?"

"Stable vitals. Deep sleep though."

'Awaken, young one. Justice must be served...' the voice whispered again.

"The Tesseract- her hand- bring it over here!" someone shouted.

She felt her left hand unclench and her fingers gently rested on a small, smooth surface. The light behind her eyelids got brighter, and shocked yells made her start a little.

"What?!"

"Her wounds- they're... vanishing!"

"Mine are too!"

"Is she any closer to waking up?"

"No..."

Shows what they know.

Riley forced her eyes open, flinching away from the bright light shining in her eyes. "She's awake!" someone shouted.

"Riley! Are you up?" Jessica shouted, dropping into her line of sight.

Riley nodded and coughed a few times. "I'm-" she cut off to cough again.

Hands helped her sit up and gave her something to drink. She drank the cool water slowly, relishing in the taste and feel on her parched throat.

The water bottle disappeared and two arms gently lifted her to her feet and wrapped around her. "I thought I would lose you," Steve murmured in Riley's ear, as she hugged back.

"Nah. Can't get rid of me that easily," she said teasingly.

Jessica tapped her shoulder, and Riley reluctantly pulled away from Steve. "We still have someone to take care of," she said in a sing-song voice, pointing at the bound man in the middle of the floor.

Riley smiled a bit and looked over at the Tesseract. 'Help us out?' she asked mentally.

The cube glowed brighter, and glowing tendrils of power spiraled around the Tesseract. Riley took a few steps away from Steve and held out her left hand to the power. It soaked into her palm, and her triangular scar glowed brightly as she absorbed it.

"Just once?" Jessica asked, and Riley grinned and redirected some of the power to Jessica. She held both hands up to block the bright lights and accidentally absorbed the power as well.

"That is REALLY heady," she commented as she stared at her hands, pulsing blue.

"Yes. And we'll need to give it back after we're finished cleaning up," Riley said, like a mother talking to a small child.

Jessica pouted, but nodded, and turned to look at the man on the floor. "Two words- Screw you!" she sang out, and dumped Tesseract power into the man.

Riley added her own power, magnified with prior use, and whispered, "May you be judged according to the people you have wronged. Find peace in he**, b******."

The man dissolved, and Riley smiled. "Revenge," she said proudly, and dumped the excess power back into the Tesseract.

She turned around, and Steve was there with another hug. "Don't ever do that again," he whispered. "Do you know how much panic you caused?"

"And how many lives we saved?" Riley said softly. "It's ok now. We're alive and ok."

He drew back and examined her armor. "Are you injured?" he asked worriedly, pointing at the hole in her armor.

"I just got shot. Occupational hazard I guess," she said with a minor shrug. Before he could reply, she hugged him again and didn't let go.

"Oh God, Steve, I was so scared," she whispered. "I tried to keep it together but I was terrified you would be too late."

Steve picked her up, ignoring her protests, and whispered back, "We would've made it. Only Tony and Bruce went back. The rest of us were still around. We listened to the things you had to endure... It made me want to go in there, single-handedly, and take them all out."

Riley smiled. "I just need a lot of sleep and some food, and I'll be 100%. Promise."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." She sighed and buried her head in his shoulder.

"Keep awake until we can get the medics to look at you," Natasha said through the comm.

"We'll do our best," Jessica said.

"Put me down, I can walk," Riley told Steve, struggling against his firm hold. He ignored her and deposited her on the medical bay bed as medics came over, drawing the curtains closed.

Riley endured the poking and prodding for a good fifteen minutes before-

"I don't understand it!" one medic cried in frustration. "Everything checks out, but you went through hell in the past two days!"

"Do I get to go home?" Riley asked, sitting up cross legged in the bed.

"I guess, but if anything happens get SHIELD to get you to the Helicarrier." The medic tossed her hands in the air and left as Riley stood up and trotted over to where the Avengers were massing.

"Let's go home."


	16. Chapter 16

This is the second-to-last chapter everyone! I can't believe how far we've come.

This is another fluffy chapter. Lots of cuteness and a bit of Jess/Loki fluff for Kilalalnara! :D

Please enjoy and remember- just one review and you get a oneshot!

(0)^_^(0)

They just lazed around in the lounge for a few hours as the sun began setting. The TV was on, but no one seemed to care much.

Quiet conversations were going on around the room. Clint and Natasha were just sitting down on the ground, silent, while Bruce stared at the TV unseeingly. Tony was speaking with Thor about something, with Steve next to Riley on the couch. Jessica was crashed on the second couch with Loki leaning on the back.

Riley smiled and leaned happily on Steve's shoulder. It was dark outside as she whispered, "I don't want to be alone tonight."

She could practically hear Steve's face turning red at the implied message. "I mean, I just want to crash up here. Jessica feels the same way and I don't think anyone wants to let us out of their sight."

"You got that right."

Steve let her up as she said, "I'll grab some blankets and pillows for all of us."

Riley returned minutes later and tossed a bunch of pillows and blankets on the ground. "PILLOW FORT!" Jessica shouted and immediately started constructing a fort.

Riley laughed and rescued her own pillow and blanket from Jessica's frantic scramble. She sat down on the couch again and pulled her legs up to her chest, pillow on her back and blanket over her and Steve's lower half. Clutched in her hand, half hidden with the blanket, was a worn-out old teddy bear.

Jessica's fort collapsed after Clint sabotaged the entire build by yanking a pillow out from under the structure. She yelped as it all came tumbling down, which drew Tony and Thor's attention.

"Fort!" Tony shouted, and came over to assist in the rebuilding process. Loki sat in Jessica's vacated chair and watched with a dry amusement as Natasha snagged a pillow and wrapped her arms around it.

Thor did his best to help, but after he accidentally fell on the fort, Jessica gave up. She grabbed two blankets and two pillows and flopped down right next to Loki in the chair.

Riley stretched out as Steve stuck a pillow behind his head and laid her head on his shoulder. The rest just sort of tangled like puppies in a blanket. All together, all silent and resting.

Riley sighed in happiness and slid into a restful sleep.

(0)^_^(0)

Steve woke up first and stretched, memories from last night coming back to him. He tried to stand and found that he couldn't.

He looked down and saw Riley, curled up with her head on his chest, fast asleep. He tried to move her head off of him, only for her to snuggle back into him, pulling her teddy bear up to her face, burying her nose in its fur.

He laughed quietly and looked at the tangled mess of humanity lying on the floor. Clint had his head on Natasha's stomach, who in turn had her arm overlapping with Bruce's. Bruce's legs were trapping Tony's, stopping the billionaire from kicking Thor, who had one hand on Clint's shoulder.

Loki and Jessica were curled up together. Jessica had a handful of Loki's shirt in her hand, holding it like a stuffed animal, which her own had fallen off the chair during the night. Loki had a protective stance, one arm draped over her and the other smoothing her hair back from her face.

Riley yawned soundlessly and rolled over. Steve instinctively caught her and pulled her back onto the couch.

She opened her eyes and sat up, rubbing her eyes to clear the sleep from them. "Morning," Steve said as she turned to look at him.

She smiled brightly and said, "Morning!" Riley took a moment to look around the room, smiling when she saw the arrangement the Avengers were in and laughing quietly as she spotted Jessica and Loki.

Unconsciously, she leaned into Steve as he shifted his legs around to get more blood flow into them. "You hungry?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, but this moment is too cute to forget," she whispered back, staring at the Avengers and then looking up at Steve.

He smiled and she moved so he could stand up. He rose and stretched a hand out to her.

Riley took it and stood up, folding her blanket and putting it back on the couch, pillow on top and bear inside. "Training?" she asked.

Steve nodded. "Would you like to join me?"

"Main gym in ten minutes," she offered.

"Deal. Meet you there," he said, and she took the elevator as he ran down the stairs.

They met up and Riley surveyed the gym. It was an entire floor of Avenger's Tower and was at least twenty feet tall. There were plenty of punching bags, that balance beam Riley still couldn't make heads nor tails of, a boxing ring, several targets, and what looked like a small obstacle course.

Curiosity peaked, she wandered over to see what the course was. It was, indeed, an obstacle course, something similar to the inflatable ones she had played on as a girl. She set aside her sword and walked once through the course, familiarizing herself with it.

First she had to climb a vertical stone wall with a rope. She then had to jump across a small gap to a platform with a tightrope. She had to climb across, then jump off a ten-foot-tall wall and make her way through innumerable punching bags. There was an air vent for her to army-crawl through, finally finishing with a monkey-bars of sort- her arch enemy.

The wall was no problem- she just jumped and made it up. Then she rethought the challenge and resolved to use her skills as rarely as possible. She slid back off the wall and tried again, skipping the rope and finding purchase for her bare feet and hands in the groves of the stone.

She reached the top and gathered herself together before sprinting across the tightrope. Halfway across she fell off and landed on her back on the soft mat with an *oomph*.

Riley sighed. This was going to be a looooong workout.

(0)^_^(0)

An hour later and Steve was finished with his twenty or so punching bags. Riley had worked herself into a sweat and had barely made it past the punching bags, after giving up on the tightrope. The air vent was just too darn small!

He came over and laughed a bit at her exasperation. "I swear to God I'll get this down someday," Riley vowed as she dusted her hands off. "Showers and breakfast?"

Steve nodded and they parted ways.

(0)^_^(0)

Everyone was awake by the time they arrived in the room again. Tony had coffee out for everyone, and someone had made eggs and toast.

Riley sipped her coffee and grinned in appreciation of the taste. They settled onto the couches and ate, no one saying anything.

"We figured out how to send you back," Tony said out of the blue, looking at Riley and Jessica. "Whenever you're ready to go back, just let us know."

Riley stopped eating and pushed her plate away from her.

Suddenly her appetite was gone.


	17. Chapter 17

And this is how it concludes.

That's right, this is the last chapter of Alternate. *tears*

I will be probably working on another fanfiction more serious than this one with the tentative title of "All Hallow's Eve". Or I can work on completing one of my previously started fan fics. Though "All Hallow's" is currently my big project.

Thank you all so much for your faithful reviews. It really made me happy to see all of your lovely words and kept me going.

Enjoy this final chapter, and I bid you adieu for now.

(0)^_^(0)

Riley packed slowly, stalling as long as she dared as Jessica swept around the room, talking about how good it would be to see her parents again, how nice it would be to pet her dogs, to hug her other friends and attend church again. She didn't seem to notice just how quiet Riley was, until she said, "What about you?"

Riley sighed and sat down on her bed. "Jess..."

"What?"

"I don't want to go home."

Jessica paused from her packing and turned around to face her best friend. "Ah. Boy troubles?"

"It's not just Steve. It's me. I'm a heroine now. At home, I'm a college girl who is struggling to pass anything at all. I have no social life at college- here I'm needed. I have my first boyfriend, and Jess, this isn't gonna be some little fling. Not with Steve. My mom and dad are great, but there've been problems at home between us. I love it so much here."

Jessica sighed and sat on her bed. "I can't say I'm thrilled about your decision to stay..."

"But that's the problem- I told Steve and he made me PROMISE to go home," Riley protested.

"Riley Star. What did we do when we promised something we had no intention of keeping?"

Riley thought for a moment, before Jessica held up her crossed fingers. She laughed and held up her own.

"Stay. If you're so happy here, stay. It'll be tough, but I'll do my best to explain to your parents." Jessica leaned forward, a tear growing in her eye. "I'll miss you, though."

Riley swallowed and wiped her eyes, reaching out and wrapping both arms around Jessica. "Oh God, I'll miss you."

"Me too. But we'll get through it somehow." Jessica drew back and forced a smile.

Riley nodded, bottom lip trembling a bit as she sniffled. "Thank you for being my best friend."

"You don't get out of being my sister so easily," Jessica said teasingly. "I expect an invitation to the wedding and being named Godmother to all of your kids."

"Only if you do the same!" Riley said with a wet laugh.

"Deal, Riley Star. Now, hide the rest of your stuff and act convincingly upset at leaving. Here's the plan..."

(0)^_^(0)

Riley dragged her bag out of the elevator onto the fourth R&D floor in Avenger's Tower. Externally she looked ready to cry, internally she was congratulating Jessica on a brilliant plan well-conceived.

Jessica was chatting to Loki as she came up the stairs and walked to the place where the Tesseract sat, suspended, in a liquid-like substance to keep the burst of power contained.

Riley placed her bags on the ground and sat mournfully on them, keeping her head down so no one could see her left eye glow blue as she communicated with the Tesseract. It seemed to glow brighter as it accepted her request and then dimmed to its' normal light.

Tony and Bruce were already there, checking calculations and such other important things as that. The elevator dinged and Riley turned around to see Clint and Natasha, followed closely by Thor and Steve, step into the floor.

Steve avoided her eyes as he walked over to a table and examined the items on it, even though Riley was completely sure he hadn't the least bit of a clue on understanding it. Natasha walked over to her and, in a rare moment of affection, hugged Riley swiftly.

Riley smiled up at Natasha and extended a hand to Clint, who took it and shook. She was more hesitant about Thor, who immediately crushed her in a hug.

"It's gonna be ok," she said soothingly, even as she tried to breathe. "We'll do our best to visit."

Bruce nodded at her, but she was having none of it and hugged the scientist from the side. He stiffened slightly, but sighed and patted her shoulder. She smiled sadly at Tony and fist-bumped him as she passed on her way to Steve.

He looked up as she approached and hurriedly looked away. She paused about five feet from him and smiled.

"Guess what I found?"

He looked askance of her, and Riley unzipped her black jacket to reveal the Captain America tee-shirt she had been wearing in the video clip.

"I found it," she whispered. "I'll always keep it. To remind me... of you."

Steve opened his arms, and Riley sprinted across the last few feet, wrapping both arms around him and squeezing tightly, trying not to cry.

"Say hello to your parents from me. And try to move on?" he whispered into her hair.

She nodded, sniffing the scent of apples her blanket still had on him.

Reluctantly they drew apart and Riley walked over to the Tesseract. She glanced over at Steve, smiling just barely as Riley, Jessica, and Loki positioned themselves in a triangle around the Tesseract.

The Tesseract began glowing, even as they raised their left hands and reached as if to touch the shining cube. Riley had positioned herself at the tip of the Tesseract which had shorn off and fallen into her hand that one terrible night, almost a year ago. Jessica and Loki were on flat sides of the cube as it began spinning.

Riley closed her eyes and prayed that it would work.

There was a blinding flash of light and Riley felt herself moving through something- thick air. She opened her eyes, only to watch Jessica and Loki draw away from her in a glowing blue vortex. She waved sadly as a tear slid down her cheek.

Then she was flying backwards, into her new home.

She landed with a thud on her bed, flat on her back. She grinned and rolled out of the bed, checking underneath for her computer.

It was there alright- safe and sound where she had left it.

Riley rose to her feet, calling softly, "Jarvis! Tell no one I'm here!"

"As you wish, Miss Star."

"How long has it been since I've left?"

"One week precisely."

"Great. Thank you very much. Where is everyone?"

"Eating up in the main lounge."

"Thank you. Keep me secret for a bit, please?"

"Of course."

Riley slid into the hallway and walked to the elevator, stiffening as it dinged and the doors started to open. She hid in the conveniently placed doorway and watched, shocked, as Steve walked down the hallway to her room and, after a pause, slipped inside.

She followed and hid just outside the doorway, watching. He sat down on her bed and buried his head in his hands, sighing heavily.

Riley leaned on the doorway and waited for him to notice her.

He didn't so much as glance at the doorway for at least five minutes, just sitting there. Eventually, he reached out and picked up her pillow, frowning slightly as he looked at it.

Riley smiled as Steve traced the paisley pattern on her pillowcase, lost deep in thought. Hesitantly, he lifted it to his nose and sniffed. He smiled.

He stood up and placed her pillow back on her bed, settling it just so. The entire time, Riley was dying to say something- ANYTHING- but kept herself reserved.

Steve turned around and halted, staring at Riley.

"Hello there! Miss me?" she said cheerfully.

"But... you promised you would go back," he said cautiously. "Am I hallucinating?"

Riley didn't answer, just flew forwards and wrapped her arms around his waist tightly, head in his shoulder, eyes closed.

Steve hugged her back tightly, and that was how the Avengers found them, ten minutes later.


End file.
